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Short Summary
Main recommendation: Before staining wood, decide whether you actually need to change its color, since hardwoods like maple, walnut, and oak are often best left natural under a clear topcoat, while staining mainly suits pine, plywood, or matching existing furniture. Whatever you choose, stain only colors wood and does not protect it, so a topcoat is needed, and the application steps (sanding, wiping off excess, and using a conditioner on soft woods) determine whether the result looks even.
Key Points
- Stain penetrates the wood fibers and cannot be undone, unlike paint, which sits on top and can be sanded off.
- Stain colors the wood but does not protect it from UV damage, scratches, or spills, so a topcoat is required.
- Pine and plywood are the most common stain candidates, but pine darkens over time to a yellowish hue and can look good with just a clear finish.
- Stain samples at home centers often do not resemble the wood species their names imply, so a subtle shade is a safer choice for a natural look.
- Soft woods like pine tend to blotch, so a conditioner or sealer is needed before staining.
- Technically any topcoat works over fully dried stain, but the speaker personally prefers to keep oil finishes with oil stains and water-based finishes with water-based stains, though lacquer has worked fine over either for him.
Details Worth Noting
- Concrete instructions:
- Ask first why you want to change the wood's color, and leave hardwoods natural with a clear topcoat unless you need to match existing furniture or slightly alter the shade.
- Sand in stages: 80 grit to remove big scratches, then 120, then 220 grit.
- Remove all sanding dust, vacuuming to clear the pores.
- Apply stain with a rag (old t-shirt or paper towel) or a foam brush, which is cheap and disposable.
- Let the stain soak in for about 20 to 30 minutes, then wipe all surfaces with a clean rag; he notes the can's label will tell you exactly how to apply that specific stain.
- For a darker shade, apply a second coat, wiping it off after about 10 minutes, since the pores are already mostly saturated.
- On pine, brush or wipe on a wood conditioner, let it penetrate, and wipe off; apply the stain before the conditioner fully dries, usually within about two hours.
- Shellac can serve as a sealer coat under oil-based stains.
- Wait a few days before applying a topcoat over stain if you are unsure it has fully dried.
- The speaker notes that wood darkens naturally over time, with cherry as an example.
- Staining hardwoods is unusual but a personal preference; the speaker personally likes to stain oak with a golden oak stain, which gives it a rich, natural color.
- Some stains contain polyurethane or are color danish oils, which provide some protection on their own, but most projects still need a separate finish.
Bottom Line
Staining is a matter of taste and needs careful prep and wiping, and a protective topcoat is required in nearly every case.
