<p>I wouldn't do it.</p>
<p>The oil from the first stain will have penetrated the wood grains to a varying degree, and will prevent the tea and vinegar stain from distributing evenly.</p>
<p>Now, this <em>may</em> not result in an obvious blotchiness, but it very well could. Moreover, the reason the first stain turned out &quot;blotchy/streaky&quot; can have several causes, and these could all influence this subsequent layer.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-05-28T18:05:06.610Z
2023-05-28T18:05:06.610Z
Joachim
<p>I am working on a project where I need to stain a birch dowel to a dark brown natural wood color. I tried my normal Varathane Dark Walnut stain (an oil-based stain which has worked really well for me in the past on both poplar hardwood and Baltic birch plywood), and for some reason it turned out horribly, much lighter than in past iterations and really blotchy / streaky. Looking into ways I can fix this.</p>
<p>A friend recommended trying a tea staining method like the one described here, which uses a chemical reaction between black tea, vinegar, and steel wool: <a href="https://www.js2partners.com/amp/how-to-distress-wood-diy" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.js2partners.com/amp/how-to-distress-wood-diy</a></p>
<p>My question is whether the fact that the wood has already accepted an oil stain will prevent this from working. Please advise.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-05-27T23:55:07.647Z
Hi Emmett, before going into the chemistry of it all, would it be possible to try this succession of stains out on another piece of birch?
Joachim
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-05-28T01:58:22.490Z
Hi, yes obviously I can try this out on my own instead of asking for help, but I think that applies to almost any fabrication question.
Emmett Palaima
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-05-28T02:00:10.060Z
I’m working on a tight deadline while traveling, I don’t have another one of the birch rod components to use as a scrap piece, which is why I’m asking for other peoples help to see if anyone has encountered something similar. The tea method also involves waiting a couple days for chemical reactions to take place so knowing in advance whether it can work is helpful. There also might be certain modifications and or additional steps necessary, so looking for the community’s experience on that.
Emmett Palaima
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-05-28T02:02:50.370Z
Any thoughts on what I mentioned above?
Emmett Palaima
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-05-28T12:41:14.600Z
*Blotchy* oil-based stain probably makes this a bad idea - the water-based materials are likely to be unevenly absorbed. But I've never tried it myself.
Chris H
<wood><color><woodworking><staining>
Can Tea Staining Be Used on Wood That Has Already Had an Oil-Based Stain?
Emmett Palaima
# Can Tea Staining Be Used on Wood That Has Already Had an Oil-Based Stain?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2023-05-27)

I am working on a project where I need to stain a birch dowel to a dark brown natural wood color. I tried my normal Varathane Dark Walnut stain (an oil-based stain which has worked really well for me in the past on both poplar hardwood and Baltic birch plywood), and for some reason it turned out horribly, much lighter than in past iterations and really blotchy / streaky. Looking into ways I can fix this.

A friend recommended trying a tea staining method like the one described here, which uses a chemical reaction between black tea, vinegar, and steel wool: <https://www.js2partners.com/amp/how-to-distress-wood-diy>

My question is whether the fact that the wood has already accepted an oil stain will prevent this from working. Please advise.

**Tags:** wood, color, woodworking, staining

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Hi Emmett, before going into the chemistry of it all, would it be possible to try this succession of stains out on another piece of birch?  
> **username_0**: Hi, yes obviously I can try this out on my own instead of asking for help, but I think that applies to almost any fabrication question.  
> **username_0**: I’m working on a tight deadline while traveling, I don’t have another one of the birch rod components to use as a scrap piece, which is why I’m asking for other peoples help to see if anyone has encountered something similar. The tea method also involves waiting a couple days for chemical reactions to take place so knowing in advance whether it can work is helpful. There also might be certain modifications and or additional steps necessary, so looking for the community’s experience on that.  
> **username_0**: Any thoughts on what I mentioned above?  
> **username_2**: *Blotchy* oil-based stain probably makes this a bad idea - the water-based materials are likely to be unevenly absorbed. But I've never tried it myself.  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2023-05-28. Score: 5 | Accepted answer

I wouldn't do it.

The oil from the first stain will have penetrated the wood grains to a varying degree, and will prevent the tea and vinegar stain from distributing evenly.

Now, this *may* not result in an obvious blotchiness, but it very well could. Moreover, the reason the first stain turned out "blotchy/streaky" can have several causes, and these could all influence this subsequent layer.


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