I’ve been restoring some cedar patio furniture and today I sanded a chair down for staining. I used Minwax Red Mahogany and tested the stain for color on a small portion of the chair. The color looked good so I continue to do most of the chair. As I was moving along, the color looked a bit darker than where I had tested, but I assumed it would dry lighter.

Unfortunately, the color ended up being very dark, almost black. What should I do to strip the stain off? Should I just sand it off or use a stripping agent first?

Also, once I get rid of the stain, should I use a lighter stain, or just do a very light coat with the same color?