I have had luck with gel stain . light sand wipe down then rub on gel stain. Then you're done.

I find they don't come out as nice as regular stain on bare wood with a top coat. But if the piece isn't worth the effort of stripping, it's an option. It can get really splotchy if you try to put it on too thick. It's better to do lots of thin coats.

Careful preparation and exact application is required. Satin sheen is best for furniture. You'll need a quality brush and plenty of brush cleaner, or several brushes to complete a medium to large project.

If you're a beginner, try the aerosol application.

I have been slowly redoing my hardwood floors with a product called Rustoleum Ultimate Wood Stain - Lowe's used to sell it but they discontinued it and now Walmart carries it. The can says it is a stain only and you are supposed to poly over it, but it definitely has some kind of oil or something in it because it ends up with a nice hard sheen even without topcoating. The can also claims to have more intense pigment and better coverage than other stains and that has definitely been the case for me.

My floors were trashed - when the house was built, the builder tried to mimic the look of old wide plank floors by using regular 1x8 and 1x10 lumber from Home Depot. It looked gorgeous when we moved in but is really too soft for a floor and after 12 years was full of white gouges where the dogs' nails and regular wear and tear exposed the unstained white pine wood. While the dogs and kids are still living here tearing up the floors, I am not willing to move every piece of furniture out of the house to do a full refinish -- our house is an open floor plan and the whole first floor is one connected floor with no breakpoints. After trying a few products, I discovered that the Rustoleum totally covered the white gouges, covered over the existing poly finish without peeling and left a really nice uniform sheen behind. It's not perfect -- you can still see the texture of the gouges -- but the patina helps it look more like an old barnwood floor now than it did when it was newly done.

So anyhow, I am basically babygating off a small area with one of those plastic play-yard things, cleaning the floor then wiping the Rustoleum on with a rag and kind of buffing off the excess. It adheres to the old finish and the fresh exposed wood equally and ends up looking great. I did a few test spots a year or so ago and they have held up well. I have tried a few colors trying to get the right match for the floor and the darker ones definitely darkened the existing finish. I think it would work great for going over furniture to change the color without totally refinishing it.

Just to give you an idea of how well this stuff works, here is my floor before:

Here is during (floor on right is already done, floor on left is not yet):

And here is an example of a spot that was done a while ago with the undone floor in the background (and apparently a big dog hair dust bunny under the cabinets - sorry!!!). No topcoating was done on this - this is the sheen left behind by the stain alone):

I used it on an end table. It is tricky as it gets splotchy. It also came out several shades darker than expected. I purposely purchased a lighter shade as I had read that it comes out darker and it came out very dark. I would use it again. The first and second coat looked awful, after the fourth coat it looked good.

ikplatow that is an amazing DIY transformation on your floors! They look lovely - great job!

Lkplatow, Thank you for posting that. We have reclaimed pine engineered floors. Ours have a dark stain and so our white gouges really stand out. Like you, with kids and dogs, we are not ready to invest too much in the way of money to replace them at this point but they are really getting to me. I look forward to trying that product out.

It's horrible stuff. It splotches, and if you recoat to get rid of the splotches it has all the appeal of brown paint.

If you want to darken a piece, and not strip it, use General Finishes Gel stains, wiping ON - don't brush it on heavily and try to wipe off, wipe on thin layers with a lint-free cloth until you like the look. then use the gel topcoat and wipe on a layer or two pf clear fin idh.

Before you assume GF is the answer, you must know if the furniture has ever been treated with a silicone based furniture polish. Nothing will adhere to silicone for long.

We used it on our very old very wide oak wood trim. It looked pretty good for about 5 years and then started to deteriorate.

I don't really like polyshades, getting an even color is tricky and even the darkest shades don't come out very dark at all. For furniture, I'd use the General Finishes gelstain, it has gotten very good reviews here on GW if you want a dark wood color. I painted an old bedroom set this summer with a cabinet paint, in ivory with an antiquing glaze. I did use a clear topcoat, not that you need to with cabinet paint, but I wanted to seal the glaze. It was a good amount of work but came out great.

I cannot remember if I used minwax gel stain or general finishes. I think it was GF because that is what I used to refresh my mahogany vanity and the two match wonderfully. I always lightly sand the pieces I gel stain for better results and I work with a brush on wipe thin method keeping each layer light to maintain wood grain. I have done many pieces and am happy with all especially in that I took something that was not to my liking and transformed them into statement pieces for less than 50 bucks.

before and afters

curbside veneer nightstand painted with peeling latex...I stripped most but not all paint off

Vanity was never painted but finish was dull. I gel stained and finished with marine varnish to protect in bathroom.

Before

After

Here I know I used miwax gels stain on a pine piece. I did lightly sand first...

before

After

Brushworks said, "you must know if the furniture has
ever been treated with a silicone based furniture polish. Nothing will
adhere to silicone for long."

OK, but HOW does one tell and if so, WHAT should one do about it?

lazy-gardens , I think that is why those of us who do always lightly sand the pieces first have had success with different products. Sanding will remove built up pledge and other silicone based polishes.

I'm not a fan of polyshades, but it's head and shoulders above GF. I've used 1 product of theirs, and my dark furniture faded to white in months. I complained to the company, and they brushed it off as "that's what stain does!" My product was taken off the market a few months later, so they obviously agreed it wasn't very good. But I got a very clear message of their quality and customer service. Wouldn't recommend it to my worst enemy.