Have you gel stained your oak cabinets?
bcnebunch
14 years ago
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neesie
14 years agodesertsteph
14 years agoRelated Discussions
Do you have Bona finish or stain on your oak floors?
Comments (6)I wish I had a photo to show you. We used Minwax English Chestnut on our stairs and lower level remodel. It is a rich, deep, true brown with no orange, red, or gray tones. Upstairs, the floors were sanded and given three coats of Bona urethane over no stain. I didn't love the paler color, but the finish wore like iron. On the main floor, we had the existing oak floors sanded and redone, using two coats of Minwax Cherry. Then we put new oak floors in the kitchen and had them matched to the rest. I do have photos showing those floors, if it's any help. They may be more orange than you want. These are the original floors, refinished: The new flooring in the kitchen:...See MoreWhere did you buy your gel stains?
Comments (13)I found the gel stains SO much easier to work with than the thin stains because they were pretty much idiotproof. Wipe on, wipe off. Very Karate Kid. :-) No worries about blotching, lap marks, uneven penetration from board to board, raising grain (almost inevitable with water-based stain), or drips/runs on vertical surfaces. I was even able to get different species and subspecies of wood to come out the same color, which is very difficult to do with the thin stains. Goodness knows I wasted enough good wood trying! A friend and I stained what seemed like acres :-) of oak beadboard and trimwork in my previous house in 2006 with Zar stain and it went very quickly. Cheap brush in one hand (the white-bristled "chip brush" worked really well) to apply, rag in the other to wipe off. I am sure everyone knows this already but rags used with oil-based products will be flammable until they are thoroughly dry. Lay them flat or hang them on a clothesline outside to dry out, don't wad them up in a pile. I ran out of rags in no time and had to buy a boxful at the hardware store; if a thrift store near you has the ratty clothes sold "by the pound" go pick out all the t-shirts you can get and cut them up, but it was cheaper for me to get the boxed ones. Oil-based products will dissolve latex gloves so get nitrile ones - those are labeled "non-latex" and are usually blue or purple. Cheapest by the box of 100 at the drugstore and have a bazillion uses! Recoat time (if it's even necessary) was only 3 hours. The weather was very warm and humid so we opened all the windows and put fans in them but that was almost as much to keep us from dripping sweat all over our work - it didn't smell as bad as the regular oil-based stain, and although I bought a respirator I took it off after about an hour because the sweat was literally pooling in it (ewwwww) and I was able to work with the stain without it with that good ventilation. I did have to leave the varnishing to my friend because I chose an oil-based varnish (SW Fastdry Oil Varnish) for a less "plasticky" appearance than polyurethane and because I wanted the "ambering" effect that you don't get with water-based products, and that was pretty smelly stuff. That was done the next day after the staining just because that's how the timing worked out. You can use water-based poly over an oil stain as long as you let the stained piece sit for several days in order for every trace of the mineral spirits to dissipate. About the "use oil stain to feed the wood" idea - it is a very common myth that you need to "feed" wood with oils. Manufacturers take advantage of this long-standing notion in order to sell you products. Wood does not need to be "fed" or "nourished", it's dead. Humidity and temperature changes, UV exposure, and water are what cause wood to deteriorate, not a lack of oil. Sure, wood will absorb oil (unless you apply it to wood with a film-forming finish such as polyurethane, varnish, etc.) which is also how a penetrating oil finish like Danish Oil or Waterlox works - but wood will also absorb water, alcohol, kerosene, lemonade, or pretty much any other liquid that sits on an unprotected or minimally-protected wood surface. Oily substances can act as a slight protectant by repelling/preventing absorption of water to some degree, although a film-forming finish does so much more effectively, and can impart a somewhat shiny surface (as well as a gummy, dirt-attracting surface if overused), but they do not "feed" that tree corpse....See MoreWould my kitchen be too dark if I gel stained my oak?
Comments (15)Sorry to bring up an old post - i'm hoping the OP is still around - my wife and I are looking to refinish our cabinets using this gel stain. It appears your cabinets are the exact same color and construction as ours. Our concern is even though the front fascia and doors appear to be real wood, the sides are laminate paper. Were your cabinets the same way? If so, did you notice a difference in finish color between the laminate and wood? How many coats did you apply? I took an old bool shelf which is the same color as the sides of our cabinets with laminate paper over particle board and when I went to stain it with General Finishes brown mahogany, it came out way way lighter then your door picture above which I assume is real wood. With the attached picture, each quarter in the test piece is a different sand paper grit. Top right is 600, Top Left is 400, Bottom left is 320 and bottom right is 150 grit. The more course, the darker it was we found. I personally like the 400 grit sample, but i'm afraid the doors and fronts won't match once stained. Hoping you can provide some advice! This post was edited by adgjqetuo on Mon, Jan 12, 15 at 15:00...See MoreGranite colors w/Java gel stained oak cabinets?
Comments (1)Bianco Antico is another one to consider. It looks similar to Delicatus but the darker spots are less angular than Delicatus. I love the General finishes java stain. We used it on a toy shelf. So easy to do and rock solid even after two yrs of use....See Moretoomuchstuph
14 years agohamsundm
14 years agohamsundm
14 years agodesertsteph
14 years agotoomuchstuph
14 years agobcnebunch
14 years agohale_izoom_net
13 years ago
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