At first, a good wood preparation is needed. Checking the condition of gluing and sanding is important. Any glue residue or defect in the wood will become very apparent once stained. In a restoration project, you must ensure that the wood is completely bare, very well sanded and cleaned.
In addition to a perfect preparation of wood, the secret of a successful coloration start by the creation of an isolated sample. Using an inconspicuous wood piece of the project, you will need to reproduce all the necessary steps to achieve the finishing project: Sanding, application of stain, drying and application of a finishing product.
It’s possible to accelerate the drying time using a dryer or any heat source, but be careful not to overheat the finish. This sample will prevent you from having many surprises.
Staining wood requires very few materials : Stain, paintbrush, cotton rags and recipients. The following instructions apply to most stains, however, make sure to follow the manufacturer's instructions of the stain that you use.
The application of stain is commonly done using a paintbrush or a cotton rag. Apply generously your stain by rubbing in all directions, in order to allows the product to penetrate. Immediately after, you need to wipe all the excess by rubbing in the wood grain direction using a cotton rag. Try to avoid leaving trails of stain, this could produce marks once dried. It’s better to generous coat of stain, this will saturate the wood grain rapidly and make an equal tint.
It’s preferable to test the combination of the stain with the finishing product, to ensure a good compatibility. Some finish can lead to some complications upon application ex: Cassel extract used without mordant will tend to wash out when using a water based varnish.
It can be innovative to overlay stains. Use two types of stain, for example, oil on alcohol can be interesting to create special and unique tints. You can obtain even better effect by applying some colored finishing products like: Buffing wax, shellac or colored oils.
