How to Apply Wood Stain
Before you begin your wood stain project you need to make sure that the surface of the wood is properly prepared. If there is any oil or grease on the wood the stain will be rejected. It is absolutely essential that the surface of the wood be free from grease and oil and clean before you attempt to apply the stain. If there is any old finish you will need to sand that off as well. Stain should only be applied to bare wood. If you have to sand off an old finish make sure that you always sand with the grain. Stain really accentuates the grain of the wood. The stain won’t discriminate between wood grain or scratches that you gouge into the wood. The best way to avoid sanding scratches is to always sand with the grain.
If you are going to use a water based stain, there is an extra preparation step, which will not be needed if you use an oil based stain. Water based stains have the annoying tendency to raise the grain of wood. This is because wood absorbs water, and it causes the grain to swell. If you are going to use a water based stain then you will need to sand the woodwork until the surface is smooth. Once done, wet the wood and let it dry. Sand the wood again. Then apply the stain. The extra sanding step will help to remove the most troublesome grains and will give you a better finish overall.
Before you begin to apply the stain, you may want to test the stain on a small area of scrap wood from your project. Once you apply the stain there is really no going back so it is good to make sure that the stain is going to give you the color that you want. Additionally testing the stain on a piece of scrap wood gives you a chance to become familiar with how the stain flows and how it can be worked.
Dip a lint free cloth into the stain and begin to apply the stain to your wood. The idea here is to get even coverage always making sure to blend any wet edges. A rag is preferable to a brush because stain is often so fluid that its hard to apply it evenly with a brush, its just too thin to stay in the bristles of the brush. You will want to continue the job of staining until you have covered the whole piece of wood. It is important not to stop because anyplace that you stop will show up as an uneven part of the finish. The key is to evenly saturate the wood with stain and then wipe up any excess. As you dip the rag into the stain you will want to saturate the rag but no so much that it is dripping liquid. Sometimes it is helpful to dunk the rag and then to squeeze out the excess before you begin to stain the wood.
Once you are finished with the stain and it has thoroughly dried, you may want to consider finishing the project with polyurethane finish. The trick to a good final finish is to apply the polyurethane in several thin coats as opposed to one thick coat. Once the polyurethane dries you will really be able to enjoy the beauty of your stain project.
