How to Stain Wood Like a PRO - 4 Simple Steps! 

A few sharp eared viewers have pointed out my error at the 2:00 mark. The sanding progression should be 100-120-150-180. Sorry for any confusion! 😅

Great Video. And here is why Clear, Concise Information No LOUD, annoying Background music Clear verbal instruction with corresponding Video Demo (No yammering on and on about what you had for breakfast or other irrelevant info) My mom was a DIY queen. I grew up in a family that sanded, stained, painted and repaired anything they got their hands on. My mom even made all her own drapes, curtains and re upholstered her 2nd hand furniture. Having said that, I learned something new about PRETREATING wood prior to staining. Good Tip.

I have NEVER been told about the oily rags! I am so glad you talked about that. Thanks!

Big fan of the side-by-side comparisons between sanded/undsanded, conditioned/not, and oil/water poly topcoats. Really makes it clear the benefits of each approach.

love the tip on scribbling on the surface wood to help with sanding a must for newbees

I am very thankful for this video because I had thrown wadded up rags with oil based stain on them in my trash can. Then I looked at this video and realized the error of my ways and promptly went and laid them out flat to dry. Thank you for that advice and possibly saving me from burning down my house.

Finally, a how to video that gets to the point and doesn't have all of the unnecessary info 👍👍

The oily rage disposal tip was the best part. Everyone says don’t toss them in the garbage, but no one ever explains why or what to do instead. I’ve been keeping them in a metal bin full of kitty litter and now I realize that’s probably overkill. Lol. Thanks!

Really like the two board comparissons. As someone who has little to no experience with this kind of thing, it really helped me understand the importance of all the steps. Thanks alot.

I am a beginner and I Love this simple, straight forward, how to video. thank you! Also, appreciated instruction of the safe handling of the stain rags. My neighbor had a garage fire last year from exactly what you described. She tossed wet stain rags in a trash can and awakened in the middle of the night to her house on fire. It was terrifying, dangerous, costly and they were displaced for close to a year while the house was repaired and rebuilt. What wasn't burned was damaged by smoke and water. PSA...insurance doesn't come close to covering the totality of the loss.

Born in '86, so technically grew up in the 90's, but yep. Know exactly what you mean. That cheap oak look still haunts me. Along with pastels and gold/glass furniture....

I have over 30 years experience in the hardwood flooring trade. While I am not wild about Minwax products, your info is spot on. Well done! Pine is probably the most difficult woods to work with stain wise. It tends to be blotchy no matter what. A pre-stain or at least a water pop is essential in making it look good. If your doing a piece of furniture where time is not a constraint, you can get away with an oil base finish. Do not apply one if the air is humid though. It will fish eye and screw up all your work! For flooring, use a waterbase finish. That way when the homeowner decides to walk across it the next morning, it's all good. With an oil, it won't be ready for traffic of any kind yet.

Nicely done! Thorough and clearly communicated information right here.

Great video! I love how you go through the details, the pluses and minuses of different products and take your time explaining the process. Thank you.

Definitely the video I was looking for. Very well explained! Thank you.

Wish I’d had this video a couple years ago when I was researching how to refinish my kitchen table! There are very few people online that know what they’re doing, explain it well, and know why things are successful or not. Thank you for taking the time to share your expertise!

This is exactly what I wanted to see. I loved how you show the results of the different techniques side by side. Thanks!

THANK YOU for the tip with the pencil!!! Simple and brilliant!

Thanks. Really helpful and informative. The pencil tip between sanding levels was good. Straightforward and calm.

As soon as you mentioned the fire hazard from oily rags, I stopped the video and properly dealt with the rags in my workshop. My Thanks!!

I have watch a few of your videos - well done. Lots of information and you don't digress. Subscribed!

Great knowledge and teaching skills. I was so impressed with your safety tip about the damp rags and preventing combustion I hit the like button a few seconds before your suggestion to do so. Also subbed. Looking forward to future content.

Super informative, to the point video. So impressed by the visuals. And the “quickies” about the rags and the pencil marks…awesome. So glad I ran across this info, thx!

Thank you. Your video was straight forward and cleared up some of my confusion with the process.

Awesome video. I never fully understood the why and how of products and why sanding is a must, but glad you did the side by side. Also the side by side was awesome with the finishers. Thanks for the information and taking the time to share.

Thanks for taking the time to demonstrate the finishes side by side. It certainly helps us all to decide on the method we would want to use without having to do the trial and error ourselves.❤

So far the best video I`ve seen on the matter. I'm just starting with woodworking. Thank you!

This was SUPER helpful! Clear, concise, & full of helpful info & reasons why. Thank you for explaining the WHY oily rags about oily rags. Thank you! I’ve subscribed & will look up more of your videos.

Great to the point video. I definitely learned something from and enjoyed watching it. Subscribed for sure

Fun fact, instead of a conditioner just wipe it with a damp rag. It does almost exactly the same thing, but in my opinion highlights the grain better. Do let the wood dry between wetting and applying stain. That is how I stain all my floors.

So glad i found this video. You explained it in layman terms and the comparisons made it the process understandable.

I appreciate this simple, straightforward, how-to video. Thanks

Really fantastic guide, especially for newer people to woodworking! Really covers everything and explains why you're doing it, as well as things to watch out for. I'll echo the sentiment from others as well in saying having the side by side comparisons of the boards both with and without the steps you take is extremely useful in helping understand each part of the process. Thank you!

Thank you so much for this informative video. Have a big staining project coming up and this is honestly the best, most informative and, above all else, concise video I've seen. I really appreciate that you were able to convey so much useful information in just a 10 minute video as it really seems so many content creators are obsessed with running up the clock these days.

Another thing someone suggested to me recently is to clean the board with denatured alcohol between sanding in the prep stage. Helps to get rid of the dust and doesn't raise the fibers nearly as much as water would, depending on the species of wood.

Excellent vid. Really learned a lot - even as someone who has sanded stained and Poly’d before 💪🏼💪🏼💪🏼💪🏼

I really needed this how to video today. I’m getting ready sand and stain our front door where the sun’s dried it out. Great & easy to follow demonstration.

Thank you for this great video, with side-by-side comparisons of the results when you do or don't do specific processes. E.g. sanded vs. unsanded boards; use of pre-stain conditioner vs. not using it; oil-based vs. water based finishing top coat.

Concisely & effectively hits important points made throughout RU-vid woodworking videos...thank you much.

Excellent tutorial. Quite a few good tips found in here. Thanks for putting this together!

Thank you for putting together this video. I recently purchased a flintlock longrifle with an extra fancy curly maple stock and I am anguishing over how to finish it. Thank you again for the excellent tutelage on the importance of sanding and how different finishes may alter the wood's color slightly.

I am so glad that you took the time to compare results with every strategy! The extra effort is appreciated

Thanks for this information especially about the heat dispersal of the finished rags. Didn't know, but now I do. Thanks again.

Lots of helpful information quickly, no fussing about. Thank you

Great intro and examples. Well put together. Thx for taking the time to do this walk-thru, super helpful.

In my experience, the water based Polycrylic is not as protective as the the oil based Polyurethane. I have 2 desk I’ve made in my house. I made one with a polyurethane finish and one I used polycrylic. 3 layers each and got excellent finishes. both desk have been used the same way. Both used for kid’s homework/coloring and computing. The Polyurethane has had zero water marks from drinks without coaster, the Polycrylic one has (luckily the top was Aspen so it’s a super white colored top anyways so it’s not super noticeable). Lastly the marker test. The kids have done coloring on paper on both desks and either marker bleed through or sliding off the paper has happened on both surfaces. It has stained the polycyclic and will not come out with any cleaning agent. The marker cleaned right off the polyurethane. Just food for thought while trying to pick a finish. 😊

THANK YOU for getting right to the point. It's clear that you know what you're doing. This will help me greatly with my project. Saving this video. :D

Best video ever. I’ve instructed on lots of topics for twenty years. You hit big time on the one area 99% miss. You remark on every secret that is only acquired by years of experience that are where the knowledge to become an expert comes from. It’s usually not realized by people or mentioned for a variety of reasons. Well done dude.

I really appreciate your video. I just built a cabin play area/bunk bed for my kids, and my next step is prepping it for stain. I've never been happy with my stain results before, so I've been nervous about this part. This video is exactly what I needed. Thanks!! Wish me luck 😅

This was an outstanding video. Extremely helpful. Love how you demonstrated how important sanding is and compared the oil and water-based polys. Thank you!!

Very informative ! Thank you!

Fill soft grain prior to staining. Always good advice with any kind of finish, clear, opaque, paint, anything. You can use lots of things to fill that soft grain. Sanded off paint makes a great "Americana" look, perhaps a little like your US flag with EGA. Hooya Marine. I learned to stain by first applying shellac to raw wood with 1 lb cut or even lighter. The little lac bug tincture fills those soft, porous areas on the grain. Then stain over the shellac. More than one shellac coat, sanding in between, allows you to vary the light to dark effect of the stain. Amber shellac will reduce the light to dark spread and tend to keep everything a little more in the dark tones, more blended. Several coats - shellac - very light stain - Shellac (repeat repeat repeat) with sanding in between will make the finish look deeper and allows you to "Sneak up" on the final color. Especially helpful if you're trying to match an existing work piece color. Remove shellac errors any time with alcohol. Just finish any shellac with poly or whatever you like. The shellac is not waterproof. Maybe those poor little bugs died every time it rained. I was also taught to shellac after staining and before other finishes. "Fat over lean" was the mantra we learned (Don't use water based finishes over oil based finishes but the reverse is ok). Magical shellac doesn't suffer any of that incompatibility problem. Shellac lives just fine under/over essentially any finish. Finally, Whiskey makes an interesting primer for shellac. It pops the grain so sand after drinking...I mean applying it. Not sure how the sugars and carbohydrates in the booze deal with things but I've whiskey primed thick epoxy table tops and seen them 30 yrs later with no finish weirdness.

Yes that 80's!!!!

this was overall the best and most educational video i’ve seen on how to properly stain wood, thank you so much!

I was a new construction house painter in late 70s til 2010. Back in the day all new houses had stained woodwork. We ALWAYS applied the stain with a brush and NEVER NEVER ragged it off. Never had a problem with sticky stain. Ofcorse we let it dry overnight.

Great safety tip about the wet rags. You maybe just saved someone’s business, house, or life. Great video, too!

I haven’t done much staining on my projects yet, but the first time I ever did, I decided to use a clean and unused shop rag. Multiple different people who approached me were amazed and assumed I was a pro woodworker who had years of experience under my belt (hardly) and a few older and experienced woodworkers thought I was daft for not using a brush! Using a rag and gently “scrubbing” the stain on simply made much more sense to me.

Awesome! The way you explained it is great.

Great Video! Clear instructions! Thank you for sharing!

I liked the contrasting look of the sanded board better than the stain conditioner prepared one.

“They don’t call it stain for nothing”😂

Those mechanical pencils are fudg'n awesome! I use them too for my office work and my carpentry!

Thank you so much , your help for a new wood worker like me is so appreciated.

Just wanted to clarify your sanding routine. 100 - 220(?)- 150 - 180..correct

I too like the wood to look natural. thank you.

That 80s look is still the story of my mobile home… 1976 two bedroom two bath spartan converted to a three bed. Starter home.

So many good tips, so clearly explained and contrasted. Many thanks

Very helpful stuff. I also appreciate the safety reminders, since it's missing in too many how-to videos.

I love the wood grain 80s, I'm in the process of redoing my studio to mimic that era! feels Cozy

Great tips and explantation on wood floors! Thank you.

Great tip about the used rags. THANK YOU for that and the clarification about the sanding progression. I did catch that, but not knowing ANYTHING about staining wood, I didn't know it was incorrect 😆I'm so glad I found your video before starting my project. 😇

Great video for us new DYI'ers. Thank you

Great video. Super simple instructions and extra details to make one successful.

Thank you so much!! This was very helpful!

Great job, very informative. "Use this if you want this look, use that if you want that look..." Nicely done.

I appreciate the information about the conditioner and the fire hazard. No one else covered that in the videos I saw.

Thank you for the video. I learned a lot

Excellent informative video, love it! Definitely helps me with the process of staining. Thank you!!

Great video, I’m so excited to stain stuff RIGHT this time! I stained a table top yesterday, with minimal knowledge, I was so eager to start I made some minor mistakes, it was fun but it had some flaws of course. This video was great and understandable, and will DEFINITELY help me with future projects, thank you!

Thank you - great demonstration.

Great video. I learned more in this video than from spending hours researching this topic. Thanks for sharing. 😊

Excellent video. Straight. To the point. Informative with a little sprinkle of humor. I too grew up in that 80s and wood paneling weirded my view on wood colors

honestly the best video i’ve come across. redoing my dining room table na have watched plenty of videos but this was the most informative.

Thank you for the info about disposal of rags. These mundane tips are so important.

Outstanding tutorial.

Learned so much! Very clear explanation!

Great explanation. Thank you!

Excellent vid !!! Thanks

Very good video thank you

great! straightforward and well explained. thanks!!

Nice one dude. Made planning my future projects a bit easier. I’ve saved to my favourites so I can come back for reference. Thanks bud.

Thank you ! Great video, nformation and demo.

Thank you so much..I've learned a lot.

great, thanks

Thank you for the information about how to handle used stain rags. I had no idea they could cause a fire! Thank you so much! ❤ This is a great video for many reasons!

Thankyou. I used to get some lessons from my great grandpa on how to whittle and carve. This helped me revise what i was taught since I can no longer cross reference with him since he passed. I appreciate it.

This was the best video I’ve seen yet. I seriously feel confident now in my project

Very clear and informative! Thank you!

something with stains has changed in the last several years. Staining on Oak was never a challenge before. Now its extra steps and costs to get an even finish. Thanks Greenies.

Great video. Thanks for the differing examples.