Questions here. Removing the filler from what? Paneling, real wood,? etc. Sine you mentioned nail holes I assume walls. Wood filler is dense and not as porous as wood, (thus the blotchy areas) Sanding makes it worse, as you found out. Wood filler dries harder then wood in most cases, so either replacement with new paneling or wood or,,,,? Paint it, Faux finish wood look? You wont get the filler out , without alot of damage to whatever surface you are trying to re-do.

Thanks for the reply Workenstiff. I guess I should have been more specific...

This is a bar top that I am working on. The top itself is oak (veneer) plywood. I wanted something unique, so I bought several pieces of "marquetry" that I inlaid into the top. (I had this vision of perfectly fitting pieces - like a jig saw puzzle). It didn't come out as nice as I had hoped and I had some small gaps around the inlays. So I used some wood filler in the gaps. Once I started sanding it, I noticed a slight "halo" around the edges of the marquetry - on the plywood.

I am now afraid that these areas will not take stain very well. I am going to do a test tonight on some scrap. We'll see how it goes.

I am hoping someone will have a suggestion of how to best remove/clean up these halos so I get a nice consistent finish.

Thanks for reading and trying to help me!

SUCCESS!!!

The lacquer thinner and steel wool (with a little elbow grease) did the trick. The "halos" disappeared and I was left with nice edges where the marquetry meets the plywood. Everything took the stain consistently. I put the first of many coats of polyurethane on it last night.

Thanks for all the help.

Just for future use you need to stain what you are doing 1st,then use a coat of sealer then match your wood filler to your stain color,you can buy the premixed and try to match it up or get a color kit and get it so perfect that it is only noticeable by looking so very close or knowing that it is there.