Can't get that Ana White finish - Please help

I am having a hard time achieving anywhere close to the final color of ana's furniture despite using the exact same stain and poly. Here is my process

Sand bare pine with 60 - 100 - 220 grit sandpaper until perfectly smooth
Rustoleum Dark walnut stain applied with foam brush
Wait 3 - 5 minutes and lightly wipe off (i get streaks most of the time)
Wait until cured
Apply poly with high quality paint brush

The finish i achieve is much darker than ana's and quite rough after finishing. Any ideas on how to improve?

Forums

Finishing Support and Advice

YukonMama

Sat, 03/01/2014 - 22:26

Here is a similar question

Here is a similar question and some good answers. http://diy.stackexchange.com/questions/4469/what-grit-sandpaper-should-…
You also might want to try either a lighter stain, or rubbing off the stain sooner (not letting it sit so long). Different woods hold stains differently, even if its the same species. Get some extra work and try your finish out on scraps so you can adjust as needed.

TLinskey

Mon, 03/03/2014 - 05:05

texasangler14 - response to finish

I am writing to hopefully help you with your recent stain frustration. Recently I experienced the same situation with the Minwax Dark Walnut stain. I followed the same steps you noted and after researching, reviewing, researching and did I mention researching the end result was my sanding was not as thorough and smooth as I thought! Although I spent the time on each grit their was still room for improvement.
I hope this helps!

Average Joe

Sun, 08/31/2014 - 22:17

stain

I put stain on with a rag. Just the way I do it. I've found that I get less splatter that way. I never wait the time it says on the can. I just wipe it on and then wipe it right off. If it's not dark enough I can put more on. It works for me. After it dries, give it a light sanding with 320 or 400 grit sand paper. Again, very light. What I've noticed that happens is the stain will cause the wood grain to raise slightly so I want to knock that down. Then clean it (I use a blow gun form my air compressor) then follow that up with a tack cloth. First coat of poly I put on with a good brush. I work it in as fast as I can without creating bubbles in the finish. After it dries, I rub it down with 0000 steel wool. You may be able to use sane paper but I use the wool. Then again blow it off, wipe with tack cloth then apply second coat. Rinse and repeat for third coat. I don't use the steel wool on the final coat. Is it perfect? Nope! but it's very close and I love it!! I think to get it 100% perfect you would probably need a certified 100A clean room LOL.

Just the way I do it, not the only way it can be done.

birvine

Tue, 11/04/2014 - 17:48