Stripping factory applied whitwash finish from oak

I have a Whitaker oak kitchen set with a factory applied whitewash finish that I would like to strip and stain a darker wood tone. I have been told by a couple people in the business of refinishing furniture that it can't be stripped well enough to be stained and would have to be painted. The reason given is that the factories don't seal the wood before applying the whitewash finish and it would be impossible to get the whitewash out of the grain by stripping. I'm hoping this information isn't correct because I really don't want to paint the set. If anyone has has experience with this problem, please advise......thanks

 

Those people are pretty accurate...esp with a large grain like oak. I had a SYP Crate style coffee table that we got real cheap but it was whitewashed....I tried citristrip and then the caustic stuff from a paint store. Both left white in the gaps and grain.

Might have been able to have it dipped and blasted...but I wound up just sanding the daylights out of it til it was good enough for stain, and there was still some white in certain spots.

Dipping and such will require complete disassembly since it gets into all the joints.