Gel stain or regular stain for desk?
Bunny
10 years ago
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sombreuil_mongrel
10 years agoBunny
10 years agoRelated Discussions
Using gel stain on my old tables
Comments (5)IÂve used the gel stain to build up a color gradually. On bare wood, regular stain is much easier. But sometimes IÂve bought a piece already finished and wanted it to match my existing furniture better. The gel stain works well for that. It will take much longer to dry over finished wood. Give yourself plenty of time and donÂt rush it. Make sure it is really dry before reapplying the next coat. Like the other poster, I thin it a bit and it spreads better. I use a good quality bristle brush, to get an even thickness of coat is too hard to do with a rag. When it is thinned there will be fewer brushstrokes visible too. IÂve even tinted it with artists oil colors when I wanted to adjust the shade a bit to match something better (though if you do that drying time is increased even more.). I donÂt like Polyshades; it puddles in the low parts....See MoreGel staining a dresser will it scratch off?
Comments (9)Because pine is a soft wood, it is hard to get it to take stain evenly. You can use a prestain conditioner to help, but the wood needs to be stripped of any existing finish to work. Gel stain can go over previously finished wood, just sand lightly to roughen the surface a bit. On unfinished wood, it will give a more uniform appearance but will obscure the grain more than a regular stain (that could be good or bad, depending on the look you want). Because gel stain doesn't soak into the wood very much, it might be a little more prone to wear since it's more of a surface finish. You could apply poly or gel topcoat to seal it, or just touch it up periodically with the gel stain....See MoreGel staining a maple desk
Comments (1)Cute. And a very useful design. Yes, you could sand it lightly and use gel stain to darken it. Maple, because it is dense, is hard to stain with a penetrating stain, but the gel stain is more paint-like....See MoreGel stain or regular stain?
Comments (32)The GF gel stain can said 8 hours drying time between first and second coat. I waited 24 and it felt quite dry. I didn't think my layer was particularly thick. Sigh. Meanwhile, everything has been stripped off and I'm down to bare wood. Wiped off well with mineral spirits. Needless to say, the grain has been raised and I need to do some sanding. Tomorrow, after everything dries out and the smell of the thinner dissipates. I found a piece of unfinished wood of unknown species in my garage. I used a foam brush to apply a thin layer of gel stain. Yeah, I know, never again. :) I wiped it down before it set up. I will let that sucker cure 48 hours and then I'll put on another thin layer and see what happens. At this point I still don't know why I would want to use gel stain over GF regular oil stain. Is it ease of application? Thick and pudding-like, not runny? Because I don't need to cover or hide. I just want a nice rich deep color through which the grain is evident....See Morelazy_gardens
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