DIY Doctor UK DIY Forums

Hi there,
Just bought 2 pine interior doors and spent about 6 hours waxing them with Pinewax which I have used before on my skirting boards and dado rails.Not very happy with the finished result though, the doors are very patchy looking in places but my main frustration is that they are nowhere near the colour of dado rail etc. which are a nice deep pine colour.The doors are a lot lighter and in some places do not look as if they have been waxed at all.Shall I pile on more wax in the hope that they might darken up a bit and what can I do about the patchiness of them?Any help will be greatly appreciated, they look rubbish!!!!!

carolina74,
You should have allowed the doors to dry out for a few months, you may be lucky and they will dry through the wax. Over time pine will darken, if you want to accelerate this take up smoking.
end

If they are patchy it is likely that there was something on the door affecting the wax being absorbed. You may be able to recover them by removing the wax with a cellulose based thinner, sanding then finishing as detailed below.

The best way to finish new (white) pine doors is as follows:

Sand down with medium (240) then fine sandpaper (120) following the grain and softening sharp edges. This should also remove anything on the wood that inhibits the was being absorbed

Apply a stain - preferably a spirit based stain because this will not raise the grain. This will give the 'depth' to the finish.

Apply a wax (BriWax - Medium Brown (P7) has always been my favourite). The best way to apply this to a door is liberally with a new paint brush working it into the grain. Then quickly smooth off the excess with a lint free cloth. Remove all the 'blobs' of wax and make sure the finish is smooth. Then 30 mins at least later buff with another lint free cloth to seal the wax and produce a shine.

If the door is not brand-new and 'white' - i.e. old pine then just applying a brown wax can get similar results

Hope this helps

[quote="carolina74"]Hi there,
Just bought 2 pine interior doors and spent about 6 hours waxing them with Pinewax which I have used before on my skirting boards and dado rails.Not very happy with the finished result though, the doors are very patchy looking in places but my main frustration is that they are nowhere near the colour of dado rail etc. which are a nice deep pine colour.The doors are a lot lighter and in some places do not look as if they have been waxed at all.Shall I pile on more wax in the hope that they might darken up a bit and what can I do about the patchiness of them?Any help will be greatly appreciated, they look rubbish!!!!![/quote]

if your dado has been on for many years then it may be a different type of pine . at some time in the past it may have been painted and then the paint stripped off .
when pine is Stripped using a caustic soda solution i beleve there is some sort of reaction that causes the material to look more mellow when bry wax is applied to it

there are different solutions avalible off the shelfe claiming to to "age" pine