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Hi everyone
I am after some help to lime wash my dining table to create a more rustic look. Could anyone help me? I have attached a photo. Would I need to stain the wood before attempting to lime wash? As I don’t want the red colour of the wood to come through.
Thank you
Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community. We're so pleased to have you join us and look forward to reading about all your projects and plans for around the house and garden. We have loads of clever and creative members so we're sure you will get plenty of helpful information, advice and inspiration.
Apologies for the delay, but I will ask our resident Bunnings D.I.Y. expert @MitchellMc to assist with your lime washing project when he is back on the site tomorrow. In the meantime, let me tag some other helpful members who might like to share their thoughts on how they would tackle this project: @Tara86, @Peggers, @TedBear, @prettyliving, @sjloves
Thanks,
Jason
Thank you so much Jason. I’m excited to start! I will attach a photo of what I would like the end result to be similar to. Any ideas would be so very helpful.
Elliza
Hi @elliza88
I did my dining table like this a couple of years ago.. the process I used was sanding it first and then I used lining white on it followed by a clear coat.
I did a couple of coats of liming white (the more coats the lighter the end result will be).
I would definitely use a liming wash also but be careful as there is a liming white wash and a stain and varnish. You want the stain and varnish liming white as it's a milky clear you can build up depending on your desired look.
The white wash is quite dense in white and won't give you a cool ash tone.
Hello @elliza88
Welcome to the Bunnings workshop community. We recently had a member lime wash their brand new work table and it came up beautifully. New desk built in lock down . That was a new desk of course, but I wanted to show you that what you have in your mind is achievable. First we need to find out how deep the finish is on your current table. Now you need some sand paper preferably with a grit number of 180, we are going to test a hidden part of your table on the assumption that the manufacturer painted the bottom of your table as well. Using the sand paper start sanding a small portion under your table and see if you can get to the light timber part with all the coating sanded away. If you manage to get to the exposed timber area in a short time then it is safe to conclude that the top coating of the table top can be sanded away as well. Since you don't want any of the old stain to be seen once you place the lime wash on you will have to give the table a thorough sand from top to bottom. You can manually sand it, but please be sure to use a sanding block so that you will get a uniform finish on the top. The other option is to purchase an affordable orbital sander like the Ryobi 240W 1 / 4 Sheet Sander. This corded sander is versatile and can accept any type of sandpaper and does not need to be velcro backed either. Allowing you to use ordinary sand paper without spending too much on it. In this instance I recommend corded as it is a mid-sized project and you might run out of battery power should you use a cordless unit. As we are stripping the table of all its coating and going back to bare timber its important to get all of it off.
Things to consider before starting :
Do you have an area where to sand it? This will generate a lot of dust and I don't recommend doing it inside the house.
Will the table be safe from the weather while you are sanding it? Bare timber + rain not good.
A proper dust mask and some protective eye gear will be needed while doing the sanding.
An enclosed space when its time to paint it. Any dust, debris that goes with the wind will fall on your table and ruin the finish.
Once fully sanded and you are down to bare timber, give the table a good wipe down. I recommend using a tack cloth as a final wipe down for the table to make sure you get all the dust off the table. You can also use your vacum cleaner with the soft brush attachment. I recommend using a high quality brush when applying the lime wash paint to give you a superior finish. Please make sure to give the first coat an appropriate amount of time to dry off. Placing a second coat too early will damage the finish and you will have to start all over again. I'm quite sure there are other methods for lime wash methods, but this is the one I've used for my personal projects in the past. I hope my tips help and please keep us updated with your project, we look forward to your diy journey!
Cheers,
Red
I am a Bunnings team member. Any opinions or recommendations shared here are my own and do not necessarily represent those of Bunnings. Visit the Bunnings website for assistance from the customer service team.
Hello @elliza88
I'm in agreement with @sjloves if you are after a lighter finish and not full on Liming white then use Liming white stain and varnish to build up to the finish you want.
Red
I am a Bunnings team member. Any opinions or recommendations shared here are my own and do not necessarily represent those of Bunnings. Visit the Bunnings website for assistance from the customer service team.
Welcome @elliza88, and thanks for sharing your project with us. I absolutely love your furniture and styling and look forward to following along with this project.
Great to see that you've already received terrific advice from our members. Let me tag @redracer01 to see if he can share any extra thoughts. As Jason mentioned, @MitchellMc will be back on the site tomorrow and will be more than happy to help further.
Please keep us updated along the way as I'm sure many, like me, would love to see the end result.
Stevie
