Q: I am trying to find the gel base for water based dyes. Do you have formula or resource to this gel base, and does anyone make water base dye gels?
A: I used to. Back in the late 80’s to 1995, my wife ran a company called Clearwater Color Company, making waterbased gel dye stains for woodworkers based on a patent pending formula of mine. We eventually sold the company and it continued for a few more years, but I am told it has now dissolved. I have thought about once again offering the stains if there proved to be enough desire for them, but to date, I have not had enough call to do so. To the best of my knowledge, no one else ever offered a waterbased dye in a gel form. Unfortunately, it is not as simple as adding dye to a gel base; the entire mixture was somewhat delicate to create and the various components had to be added in just the right sequence for it to work. Incidentally, I still have some containers of the stain, now 15 years old, and it still works fine.
Michael Dresdner
straight talk about wood finishing