Thanks for the great tips and clear instructions for applying water based stains. I will be doing a plywood floor 12' x 22' in my workshop renovation. I have never used water based stain before so your video was invaluable to me as I plan how to best do the job. THANKS!
I’ve now watched this video twice within a week. First for my own small project and now again because my neighbor brought me a large dining room table that’s been outside and will continue to be outside and needs to be done in a few days. They brought me a solid grey water based stain. I’m much more comfortable with oil based. The advantage is being able to do the job indoors to control dust and temperature and I won’t run everyone out of the house for 3 days 😅. Direct sunlight is definitely the biggest outdoor enemy, you’re right about that. What applicator did you use here… natural or synthetic? I have a bunch of 100% cotton applicators but no synthetics yet. The synthetic applicators seem to be a little hard to find.
Sounds like you've been busy! Our stain pad is synthetic. You should be able to find them at our local hardware store. You can find them on amazon too. Hope that helps. amzn.to/3NJOKHj THANKS for taking the time to watch our video and commenting. It means the world to us!
Beautiful job! You mentioned that you didn't wait for the pre-stain to fully dry before staining. About how many minutes did you wait before applying the stain? Thanks!
That's a great question. I don't remember exactly how long I waited. I did test multiple times on scrap wood before moving to the actual built-in counter. But I do know that the pre-stain still looked wet when I applied the stain. You may just have to test to see how much time you have. It will dry faster if you're working in a heated room, or a room with direct sunlight. I also live in a dry climate so I think that played into it as well. If you live somewhere that's more humid you'll probably have more working time.
My nightmare using SamaN Dark Walnut. This is not an easy to use product, it dries so fast. Based on further research, I guess similar types of water based products dry very fast also. After doing some bathroom cabinets for a customer's large home using the old fashion oil stain dark walnut, & fed up with all the nasty smell and fire dangers that stain and lacquer sealers & clears topcoats can get you into, I decided to try water based stains topcoats. I tested the Saman dark walnut on small oak wood pieces. First try on a 4x4 oak piece, let it dry past 1 minute, almost nothing was removable. So I wet another piece with dark walnut U wiped it off while wet after rubbing it into the wood along the grain a few seconds. The color came out nice. This is the problem, on large pieces you don't have the controlled time & size of the piece, like a large desk with cabinets on top on the left & right. Dong further research on water based staining, I had a helper remove the stain right behind me after Ias I was spraying the stain with a Fuji airles turbine sprayer, the blue ones. After spraying the stain, I joined the helper with removing the still wet stain before it dried on us. Despite spraying it on wet, some dry spots were the result. Needles to say, I sanded the whole desk top 2 hours later, & this is where I stand now. It's dark walnut, the top is a veneer so I can't sand too much, I will try restaining again, maybe sealing it firsts. Or stain it with a much lighter & reduced dark walnut, then sealing it, & staining again on top of the sealer gazing it with a brush. But most likely, it's already a ruined desk top that has to be replaced at my bosses expense, an angry customer, & me getting fired. Myself? Stressed as hell. I should have stuck to what I knew, oil based staining. Saman claims you can apply it directly too wood, that you don't need a wood conditioner and it doesn't blotch. I wen't in confident after all the research, reading, etc It's one thing in a controlled environment & time, & on a small piece of wood; but out in the real world with actual furniture, is a whole other thing, a nightmare for me. So be warned. I'll return to the foul smell of oil staining & it's hazards & the solvents.
Oh man! We hear your frustration! I feel fortunate that this project eventually turned out ok! I think we're going to stick with the good old oil based stains in the future as well. The perks of a water based solution for easy clean up and no smell are SO appealing...but way too much of a headache and stress trying to get the same results as oil based.
