Acetone darkening wood

I am currently trying to refinish a wooden dresser.

Following the advice in this thread: http://forum.doityourself.com/archiv...p/t-18803.html , I used a brass bristled brush and acetone to remove paint that was still in the wood grain after using a chemical stripper. It took a while, but I managed to get just about all the paint out of a couple of the drawers. Unfortunately, those drawers are now significantly darker than the rest of the dresser. As this was not listed as a possible side effect, I am somewhat concerned.

Is it possible that I did something wrong while I was applying acetone? I did use the blue shop-towels-on-a-roll to both apply it and wipe the wood clean afterwards, but figured it wasn't that because it didn't turn blueish.

Is there a better alternative to this method to remove paint from wood grain?

Should I bleach the wood before I stain it? The darker wood looks older than I would like, and isn't really the color I'm going to be trying for.

Thanks in advance.

 

I would apply stripper again to see if that won't remove the residue. Acetone as a solvent may well leave some residue in dissolving the paint.

 

The stripper worked like a charm.

I am concerned that it may be the brass bristles that were the cause of the discoloration, as I tried the brush with a different stripper (the one I used to remove the dark color above actually) and it began to darken the wood. Does this indicate anything different?

Do they make any bare wood cleaners? All I can find are cleaners for treated wood and stripping compounds.

 

Brass is commonly used with stripper. You can get a plastic brush from most paint suppliers to see if this matters.

 

It's the brass.

 

Is there an easier and less hazardous way of cleaning the brass from the wood than by using paint stripper?

 

I've searched and, while there's tons of experience out there on cleaning wood with acetone, just can't find anything on acetone darkening wood.

Sometimes I've seen (the tin of) brass bristles staining wood and other materials. Might depend on the brass alloy, and reaction with certain chemicals could be a factor. For sure I've had to stop and use plastic bristles when the brass was obviously to blame.

Also this caustic strippers vs. solvent strippers:

"3. Caustic strippers

Benefits:
Will remove most finishes. Especially good on thick paint build up. Less fumes than solvent based. Cheaper. Quicker.

Drawbacks:
The main ingredient, a very powerful alkaline chemical normally sodium or potassium hydroxide (as found in most oven cleaners) stains the wood by reacting with natural wood acids in the same way as fuming. It also attacks all living tissues slowly breaking down wood at a molecular level so can cause cracking and peeling of surface on damaged and old worm eaten timbers such as beams, especially if left in contact with the bare wood for extended periods. Beware, companies have to advertise such strippers as gentle on the wood or some people would not buy them, ask for a technical or COSHH data sheet (they have to supply them on demand by law) read the ingredients and make up your own mind. Can cause severe burns if not used properly."
-periodproperty.co.uk/article023.htm

So perhaps you used a caustic stripper? Labels warning more of corrosion than poisonous fumes would be a clue.

If the wood is deeply stained by (caustic) fuming then consider smoothing out the tone by further staining.

If tin residue in the wood grain then sanding will take care of it.