I would like to refinish one of my Haywood Wakefield furniture pieces. It is the maple "Champayne" color probably 30's vinitage. I have seen that it has a NC clear coat with some kind of color applied to the wood first. I would certainly appreciate any input on this project. Thanks--Stumped in North Carolina

-- t.f.wooster (rmwooster@gibralter.net), February 24, 2003

Answers

The Haywood-Wakefield finishes are what is called a "toned" finish.This means the color is in the finish, not in a dye or stain applied to the wood.There are professional refinishing shops that say they work with the equivelent of the Haywood-Wakefield finishes. If this is the "look" you want or want to insure a better resail value, this might be the way for you to go. Even toned finishes are not easy to achive by using a brush-on method.I wook in a refinishing shop that does refinish Haywood-Wakefield. We do not attempt to reproduce the toned finishes.What we use to color the Champange or Wheat colors is the natural stain by Minwax followed by a spray finish of clear lacquer. This comes close to reproducing the origional color of the finish, plus inhansing the grain of the wood, which a toned finish can not do. If you do the piece please be shure to clean the piece thoroughly after striping and sand lightly to remove and wood "fuzzies"(raised grain). Good luck!

-- M.J. Reynolds (broomcloset59@yahoo.com), August 06, 2003.

I, too am trying to refinish a badly abused Heywood Wakefield end table. After I removed the latex paint, I found a slopped on dark stain coverin half of the piece. How can I remove that awful stain? I am not excited about sanding it out, because I am worried it is very deep and I don't want to destroy the patina of the wood. Is there a chemical product and technique you can recommend?

-- Kathy LaCombe (lacombek@wowway.com), January 04, 2005.