Cabinet Stain Fading

[Fivecodys]

Maybe the cabinets are different, but I had a table issue drive me mad.

Some minor water damage and corner dings bothered me. I sanded patches to see if I could stain match. I had good luck with some bare wood elsewhere. The sanding was faster than expected and showed very pale wood. Then no stain would soak in! Several brands an types, including a thick paste left on for hours. It all wiped off leaving the wood as pale as ever.

I've had a few projects act like that before. Stain would not soak in.
On one the wear layer was a super thin veneer and I sanded right through it and exposed the adhesive layer. Nothing worked on that. I ruined it!

You might try taking some mineral spirits and wipe the area real well and let it dry.

Make sure you ventilate well as the fumes are not good for you and probably flammable.

I have had mixed results with this process. I have also let stain dry without wiping it off (or just lightly wiping to smooth it out) and then clear coated over it. But again, it can be a real trial and error process.

When our table starts looking ratty , I'm just gonna build another one and leave off the drawer.
That darn thing hurts when you scrape you legs on it.

Good luck.

[RickLight]

I have had mixed results with this process. I have also let stain dry without wiping it off (or just lightly wiping to smooth it out) and then clear coated over it. But again, it can be a real trial and error process.

Grand Design certainly uses a fast and easy method.

[Dplant13123]

I've had a few projects act like that before. Stain would not soak in.
On one the wear layer was a super thin veneer and I sanded right through it and exposed the adhesive layer. Nothing worked on that. I ruined it!

You might try taking some mineral spirits and wipe the area real well and let it dry.

Make sure you ventilate well as the fumes are not good for you and probably flammable.

I have had mixed results with this process. I have also let stain dry without wiping it off (or just lightly wiping to smooth it out) and then clear coated over it. But again, it can be a real trial and error process.

When our table starts looking ratty , I'm just gonna build another one and leave off the drawer.
That darn thing hurts when you scrape you legs on it.

Good luck.

I know this is a older post but thought I would reply with my learnings. I had/have the same problem with our table and drawer fronts. It seems the stain is wiping right off. I tried stain, pens, markers -- nothing would work. So I did what I should have done initially. I called our son who is a CAD designer for a custom cabinet shop. His immediate response was "you can't stain those in the traditional method. There made out of solid maple which is a closed grain wood. It will not take stain." That begged the question - what's rubbing off? In summary, our son said we could either paint the maple which we did on our center island. Or, color match a tinted poly. We are out for the winter so won't be doing it on the road. When we return to Minnesota we will take a drawer to the finisher that does all the work for the custom cabinet shop and pay him to color match a gallon of poly. We will then spray on the color match poly (not brush). On the road I'll use a small airbrush to make any spot repairs. BTW, I have a 2019 337RLS.