Removing Dye from Cabinet - DIY Chatroom

christalynn11 · 11-04-2009, 07:10 PM

Hi All - In my haste of trying to dye my hair dark brown a couple of months back (I had accidently bleached it to lemon yellow! ACK!) I dripped permanent, dark brown hair coloring on the front of one of my bathroom cabinet drawer faces. The cabinets are maple with a fawn stain on them.

I've not had to fix anything like this before, but my guess is that I will need to strip it and restain. Any tips or step by step how-to directions would be great!

Also, it is imperitive that I strip the ENTIRE face of the one drawer? The area in question is about the size of a nickel - if I can spot treat it I would really prefer to do so.

(and my hair turned out quite lovely!)

Ron6519 · 11-04-2009, 09:06 PM

The likely hood you could deal with the nickel sized issue and have it match the rest of the drawer is, well, unlikely. It's doubtful you could even get the drawer to match the rest of the piece unless you have the same stain the manufacturer used. You might need to redo the whole front.
But let's put this all in prospective. Your hair looks good and that's all that's important.
I'd try bringing the drawer to someone experienced in refinishing.
Ron

christalynn11 · 11-04-2009, 09:24 PM

I actually have the stain because our house is new... and I do have a bit of experience with things such as refinishing wood furniture. I've just never touched my cabinets before and didn't know if it was a stain then a varnish sort of project, or what. I've only refinished from scratch so to speak.

(and frankly I would give up their hair for the fixed cabinet...I didn't notice my sloppy color job until it was too late...but there is no such possibility...sigh.)

ArmchairDIY · 11-04-2009, 10:03 PM

Quote:

The cabinets are maple with a fawn stain on them.

You forgot to add; with dark brown highlights.....lol sorry couldn't resist.

As long as you are prepared to refinish it why not try a couple of solvent cleaners first and see what happens. If they do not work or ruin the original finish then you can strip, re stain and varnish.
Try some Goof Off if that does not work try acetone (nail polish remover) It's worth a try. Even a scotch brite pad may work. Factory applied lacquer cabinet finishes are tough as nails, it may remove the dye and leave the finish.

christalynn11 · 11-04-2009, 10:11 PM

Well that is helpful. I wouldn't have thought to use Goof Off but that makes sense. I'm willing to give those options a try before anything too crazy.

I guess I was shocked at the first response to have the entire face of the cabinet refinished. Maybe my sense of humor and comment about my hair made me sound too ditzy.

Loved your highlights joke!