For the past 35 years stain requests were made, by us being given a
sample that had been produced by another polisher or perhaps a sample card from
a stain supplier. We might receive a drawer from an item of furniture, or even
a stain sample wiped onto a piece of timber by a designer or architect.
These samples were reasonably easy to replicate as they were mostly
produced using timbers and stains that were commonly available in Australia.
Yes, there were times when the matching process was a little complex. Yes,
there were times when the samples were deliberately complicated by another
polisher in the hope that they would be the only polisher who could reproduce
the colour, but on the main we had little trouble reproducing most stain
samples.
Over the last few years this traditional system has started to change.
We now mostly receive imported flooring samples or wood grain laminate samples.
These new samples can cause us untold hours of frustration and torment and this
is becoming an issue that needs addressing.
First off let’s look at laminate samples. Theses laminates are made by
printing a length of paper and encasing that paper in plastic. There is no
underlying timber colour that affects the final colour. The colours are produce
using printing ink and as they a printed onto an even coloured paper the
colours are reproduced over and over with consistency of even colour.
As a polisher we use stains to try and reproduce those printers’ inks
and we then need to apply those stains to timber. Timber colours vary from one
piece to the next and these different timber colours influence the final look
of the finished joinery. Whereas a laminate will be consistent repeatedly,
stained timber will vary from one item to the next.
With laminates being so even and consistent from one board to the next,
clients often believe that timber joinery will be the same. They don’t always
understand that each veneer board or piece of solid timber will vary in colour
which will then mean we get varying colours when applying stains over those
timbers.
Imported flooring also has its complications. First off most of the
timber used is Oak. The Oak is often treated by a process called Fuming. Fuming
uses acid to remove the tannins from the timber leaving a greenish/brown
coloured timber. When stained, the flooring starts with a greenish timber
colour that affects the final stained finish. No matter what stains the
flooring manufacturer uses they will always be influenced by the underlying
greenish/brown timber.
The timber we are given by our clients is never fumed and so the base
timber colour we need to deal with is the typical white, brown and pink
variations of American oak. At Simmonds Polishing we are the only polisher in
Melbourne who has the know-how and ability to fume timber, but it is a time
consuming and expensive process that is rarely requested. As a result, we are
applying stains over white, pink, and brown timbers that our clients want to
match to the flooring sample that is stained over green/brown timber. A system
that will never look the same.
With the vast experience we have at hand from 5 traditionally trained
polisher we often achieve colour matches that are very close to both flooring
and laminate samples, but all clients need to understand that exact matches are
almost impossible within the constraints of most polishing budgets.
So next time you are given a flooring sample, have a close look at the
underlying timber colour. If it is fumed then serious discussions need to be
had with clients, designers and polishers as to whether a match is even possible.
The same goes for laminate samples, very rarely will an exact match be
possible.
