Stain Wood, Do It Yourself
Furniture Refinishing

TransTint® Stain DyesConcentrated stain dye solution makes it easy to apply beautiful color to your project. Available in 19 colors. 2 oz. bottle. Make subtle changes to wood stain to match existing colors TransTint® Dyes

Stain wood furniture before you seal

Somewhere along the way someone has come up with the notion that you should seal wood before you stain. Don't seal first. If you seal the wood first there is nothing for the stain to soak into and it sits on top of the sealer and looks very blotchy

Sealing after staining is a good idea as some pigments will bleed through a finish and give an undesirable appearance, so it is a good idea to seal them in. When you use a sanding sealer after you stain wood and before you apply the final clear finish you can sand it with a very fine sandpaper to give a very good, very smooth surface on which to apply the final finish.

Be sure that you use a sanding sealer compatible with the other products that you are using especially with the final finish product. Zinsser has a product, Zinsser Bullseye® SealCoat?, that they claim is compatible with all clear finishes

Staining wood furniture is generally a necessity after you strip and prepare it. If you don't, the piece of furniture will quite often look uneven in color or kind of blotchy. An exception to this is a clear finish over light color wood that you want to have a natural appearance.

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Watco Danish Oil Finish

Watco Danish Oil Finish Is a deep penetrating oil that soaks deep into wood pores to provide protection from the inside out. Danish Oil hardens inside the wood, so it will never chip, or wear away. Made from a blend of penetrating oil and varnish that stains, seals and protects. Danish oil enhances the natural look of the wood, and creates the rich, warm glow of a hand-rubbed finish. Great for furniture, trim, molding or any bare wood interior surface. Wipe on with a brush or cloth.

Watco Danish Oil is available in a wide selection of wood tones and colors.

Quick Drying Stain Gives Muddy Appearance

You can get products that are a combined pigment and finish that dry quickly (other than the pigmented oil finishes), but they will generally give a muddy opaque finish.

Vinyl or Aniline Stain

There are vinyl or aniline stains, and many more that are quick to dry, but are usually very difficult to use or just plain frustrating, because they dry before you can get the effect that you want. It's just like most things in this life, if you want fast, then you have to give up some other quality.

Pigmented Oil Finishes

There are pigmented oil finishes, that generally give good color. Watco Danish Oil, which comes in all standard wood colors, is a good example. It will be covered more in Wood Finishes.

Oil Stain or Oil Emulating Water Stain

My favorite is a good oil stain or one of the new water stains that are formulated to emulate oil stains that give you lots of control. Always pick a color no darker than you want the furniture to be. If the furniture is too light you can always apply more stain and let it penetrate longer, but it is a lot of work and sometimes the result isn't what you want if you have to lighten the furniture. If the color you want is in between the colors available, you can mix oil stains to get your desired color.

Oil stain can be applied with a brush, cloth, roller, your bare hand, or by any other means as long as you get it on evenly. After applying, wipe the excess off and let the furniture dry overnight. It is very important that the stain is completely dry before applying a clear finish.

See Finish Wood Furniture for the next step after the stain dries.

Zinsser Bullseye® SealCoat? This is the only sanding sealer you will ever need! It gives depth and beauty to wood grain, and won?t raise or swell the wood grain. 100% wax-free formula dries in minutes and sands easily. Zinsser Bullseye® SealCoat?

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