Michael Dresdner

Q: I am about to start staining and finishing my new maple kitchen cabinets. I decided to use a dye stain. On my sample pieces I applied a wood conditioner then lightly sanded, then applied the stain to the color I wanted.
A: Dyes work best on raw wood. Wood conditioners work by inhibiting stain absorption. Putting the two together seems like working against yourself. Water soluble dyes penetrate maple well and are very easy to use; flood them onto raw, well sanded wood liberally, then wipe the stain off thoroughly, leaving only what the wood has absorbed. Control the color intensity by how you mix the stain, not by how you apply it.

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This entry was posted on Monday, August 2nd, 2010 at 6:00 am and is filed under Coloring options, compatibility, conditioner, dye. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.