Wood will always be popular, because it is beautiful and environmentally friendly pure material. However, like all natural decorative elements, boards are afraid of moisture and are a favorite habitat for insects, fungi, mold and other microorganisms. To increase the service life of things made from wood, various protective agents and antiseptics are used. Today we will talk about such a wonderful substance as stain, with its help you can not only solve some problems associated with premature damage wooden materials, but also to give your products an unusual and noble appearance.
Wood is a strong and durable material that is susceptible to adverse factors. environment, therefore, in order to protect products made from it from possible damage, it is necessary to process them by special means. On the construction market you can find a huge number of different antiseptics, varnishes and other impregnations that change the color and some properties of wood; the most popular and inexpensive product is stain. Some people think that stains are used only to change the color of an object, but this wonderful drug also has other properties.
The properties of stains may vary depending on their composition. However, even if you do this tint yourself, it will still have some protective properties.
Properties of stains:
- If you want to change not only the color of the wood, but also highlight its texture, then stain is just what you need. It does not completely cover the design, like paint, but gives the entire product a pleasant shade.
- Staining wood will protect furniture from insects and rot, while maintaining the texture and grain of the wood.
- Stain is a protective agent that increases the service life of wooden objects and costs several times less than varnish and paint. In addition, due to its watery consistency, it penetrates deeper into the wood structure.
- With the help of stain, you can make even inexpensive pine, painted with colored stain, look like noble and strong oak and exotic mahogany.
- Tinting with stain can lighten the wood. This technique is especially often used before painting wooden products.
- Impregnation with stain will strengthen the structure of the wood and give it a slight moisture-proof property.
Not all stains have the above qualities. To understand what kind of stain you need, you need to read its composition and see what the instructions for use say. By the way, you can treat not only solid ones with stains. wooden boards, but also chipboard, items made of plywood or parquet and other wooden crafts.
Water-based wood stain and alcohol stains
Water-based stains are the most environmentally friendly stains. They don't have any sharp unpleasant odor and easy to use.
Such a product can be sold as dry, or already ready mix. Such dyes are most popular due to their low price and the possibility of their use for both interior and exterior work.
Main characteristics of water stain:
- The colors of water-based stains are very diverse. With their help you can create a very interesting iridescent effect.
- You can use water sprays without fear for your health. Even with the most high temperatures, such products do not emit harmful fumes.
- If you decide to experiment and are wondering: “Which stain to choose so that it can be washed?” – then water stain is what you need. This tinting agent can be easily washed off with water, so painting the floor with it is impossible.
- Tinting a wooden surface with this method makes its texture more noticeable. Unfortunately, this makes the product more sensitive to moisture, so it will need to be opened with varnish.
It is extremely undesirable to tint resinous tree species with such impregnation, as unsightly stains may appear on them. For such products it is better to use alcohol impregnations.
How long does alcohol impregnation take to dry? Almost a few seconds! This property is both an advantage and a disadvantage. Thanks to it, you can cover the butt of a sporting rifle with alcohol stain, and use it in just a few minutes, however, a large area can only be stained with a spray gun, otherwise the surface of the product will become covered with unpleasant stains and stains, and even varnish will not help correct the situation. The alcohol impregnation consists of alcohol and dyes.
Treating wood with this impregnation will make it more resistant to ultraviolet radiation and high humidity. However, due to the unpleasant odor of this product, working with it is only possible in an open space.
Advantages of oil-based stains and wax and acrylic stains
stain on oil based has a wide range of colors and shades. It costs more than water fighters, but also beneficial properties she has more. This preparation can be used not only to change the color of the product, but also to emphasize its texture.
Treating wood with oil-based stain is easy and convenient; it is applied thin layer and does not lift the fibers of the product. Also, this tint does not fade when exposed to sun rays, gives the tree resistance to temperature changes and protects it from moisture. Oil stains can be removed using white spirit solvent; it can also lighten painted wood a little. It differs from compositions with similar properties in that it does not require varnish to secure it. The disadvantages of staining with oil include: long drying of the tint and its toxicity.
It is very important to find a stain from a responsible and conscientious manufacturer. Judging by the reviews, the most popular companies are Vartan, Latek, Novbytkhim and Herlak.
Acrylic and wax stains are very easy to apply; they apply in a uniform layer and do not leave stains or streaks. However, due to the rapid drying of such stains, you need to work with them very quickly.
Wax stain is used to protect wood from moisture. It can be used to treat parquet. This stain is not resistant to mechanical damage, so to extend its service life, it is better to use varnish.
Acrylic, also known as rustic, stain perfectly emphasizes the texture of wood. With its help you can get the most different shades That's why this drug is so popular. Wood painted with such stain will still need to be opened with several layers of varnish.
Wood stain colors
Wood stains differ not only in composition, they come in different colors and shades. Most often, a dark mixture is used; it gives the products a more noble appearance. With the help of such stains, ordinary larch and maple can be turned into oak boards.
Modern stains can give wood the most unusual shade. However, to this day the range of natural wood colors is considered the most popular.
The most popular stain colors:
- Pine;
- Birch;
- Bleached walnut;
- Plum; Red tree;
- Olive;
- Rosewood;
There are many such examples. It is noteworthy that the names of the same shade have different companies may vary greatly. When choosing the color of the stain, first of all, pay attention not to color palette, which is printed on the packaging, and samples printed on birch boards.
It is also important to consider that the intensity of the color of the stain depends on the type of wood on which it is applied. Give dark shade a product, if the wood from which it is made is light, will be more difficult than darkening an object made of oak. A non-aqueous stain will not be able to stain a pine board well enough unless it is first desalted, but water-based stains are generally unsuitable for resinous wood species.
White wood stain
To give your furniture a white color, you don't have to paint it. A lightening stain is also suitable for such work, which will not only make the product lighter, but also emphasize its structure.
Wood stain is intended not only to give the product a more light shade, but also in order to protect it from unfavorable conditions the surrounding world. It is very important to consider, when considering different types of such a product, how and what you will apply it to. If there is a risk that moisture will spill onto the surface of a bleached object, then it is best to use wax, oil and acrylic preparations, but if your craft will be in a dry and ventilated place, then water stain will also work.
Using white stain you can achieve a very interesting effect and create an aged finish. It must first be painted with stain white water-based, after it dries, the item must be treated with a stiff brush. A dark-colored wax or oil stain is rubbed into the formed pores on the wood.
When using water stain, do not forget about the protective layer. The painted product must be treated with wax or oil.
Light stains do not always have a pronounced color. There is a colorless stain that is applied solely to protect the wood from adverse natural factors.
How to make your own stain
It is not necessary to buy ready-made stain. Mix dyes such as coffee, a few drops of iodine or black bark shavings, and some chemical elements, it can be done at home. Homemade stain is not only effective, it is also natural.
- Boil a glass of larch bark in a glass of water. The resulting product can be used to coat birch products; it will give them a beautiful reddish tint.
- Grind the dried shells walnut into powder and boil for ten minutes. The resulting decoction must be mixed with soda. Apply the solution to light-colored wood and it will turn brown. If you want to change the color of the product, you can treat it with vinegar or potassium bichromate. In the first case, the shade will be gray, and in the second, red.
- Brewed tea or coffee can give the wood different shades. The intensity of the colors depends on the strength of the brew.
- Using a solution of potassium permanganate you will paint the product cherry color.
- A red tint can be achieved by soaking rusty nails in vinegar for several days. Black stain is obtained by adding a decoction of oak or walnut leaves to a vinegar solution.
They make their own stains quite often. They turn out to be environmentally friendly and harmless. Unfortunately, they all tend to fade, so to preserve the color of the product, you need to apply a layer of varnish over the stain.
Tinting wood with stain: step-by-step instructions
To make the product look neat and beautiful, you need to cover it with stain correctly. If the stain is applied poorly, it can fade in just a few weeks; also, if you do not follow the staining technology, you risk getting a surface covered with stains.
How to properly stain objects:
- First of all, it is necessary to remove a layer from the surface of the product old paint. This can be done using sandpaper.
- Next, the surface is degreased with alcohol, white spirit or gasoline. If the product is made from resinous tree species, then it is deresined.
- The stain is heated and applied in a thin layer to the surface of the product. The top of the item is processed first. Layers are applied on top, one on top of the other, until the desired shade is achieved.
After the stain has dried, the product must be coated with several layers of varnish. Before applying a new layer, the dried varnish is treated with fine-grained sandpaper.
Wood stain (video)
Wood stain is great way to replace one wood color with another. There are such means different types, they can have different compositions and colors. Use stain correctly and you will be rewarded with a beautiful product.
Wood stain is very popular and is designed to add aesthetics and decorativeness to various wood products, change their tone and emphasize texture, and most importantly, to increase their service life. This can be achieved by the antiseptic properties of stains. There are also wood stains that can protect the treated surface from insect pests, mold and mildew.
This article discusses in detail not only what stain is, but also its main types, properties, advantages, and why it is needed.
Depending on the purpose and composition, wood stain has the following advantages over a number of other paints and varnishes:
- Possibility of combining shades (for example, dark colors, walnut or pine, light colors, black, etc.).
- Coating with stains strengthens the structure of the material.
- Increasing the service life of products.
- Partially imparting moisture resistance to lumber.
- Makes it possible to both give the wood a noble shade and get another color scheme(there are the most various colors stains).
- Preservation of wood structure.
The main advantage of this tinting composition is deep penetration inside the wood. This allows you to preserve the wood texture. Therefore, the answers to the questions about what is better - stains or varnishes, and what stain is needed for, become obvious.
Color palette
There are different colors of wood stain, and it is very difficult to answer the question of how to choose the most suitable one. This material allows you to add almost any shade to wood products. For example, black stain is very popular, which allows you to give the surface the appearance of a black mirror. It is recommended to polish the base before applying it.
Gray stain makes it possible to avoid highlighting the treated product from the overall interior. It is worth painting with it only if the walls and textiles in the interior are bright. Gray can cause depression, and products in this color will look too faded and gray.
Psychologists advise choosing a green stain (colored stain), since this shade causes positive emotions. Green color Suitable for surface treatment of various interior items. Blue stain allows you to get a very expressive look to the finished product. Choose it to combine with yellow and white tones.
There are more natural wood stain colors on the market. But there is a colorless impregnation that allows you to preserve the surface in its natural color.
Main types
Impregnation for wood varies depending on the composition. Let's look at the most common types of stains:
- Water-based stains. Water stain can be powdered (water-soluble) and in the form of ready-made formulations. It is an environmentally friendly product (regardless of external factors there are no harmful fumes or smell), and it also has a rich range of colors. If necessary, the product can be easily washed off with water, so it is recommended to apply an additional protective layer (for example, varnish). The main disadvantage is the raising of wood fibers, as a result of which the product becomes more vulnerable to moisture (non-aqueous impregnation is used to eliminate this disadvantage). Water-based wood stains have become the most widespread.
- Alcohol compositions. Available ready-to-use or in dry form (the powder must be diluted). Designed to protect wood from moisture and ultraviolet radiation. This impregnation dries quickly enough, which avoids raising the pile and swelling of the wood.
- Oil formulations. The composition of the stain includes dyes soluble in drying oil and oils. Impregnations of this group can be applied using any method and tool. They do not fill the wood with additional moisture and do not lift the fibers. The variety of colors of wood stains for this group, if desired, allows you to achieve any shade by simply adding dyes.
- Acrylic mixtures. Acrylic-based impregnations are an environmentally friendly, child-safe and fire-resistant product. Acrylic stain is great for all types of wood and dries very quickly.
- Wax stains. Allows you to process painted surfaces. Wax-based impregnations reliably protect the treated surface from moisture. It is important to know that wax stain cannot be used before coating wood with two-component varnishes.
On the video: rules for choosing stain.
Application methods
There are four main ways to apply stain:
- Rubbing painting. The composition is applied to the surface, after which it is rubbed over the entire area. Recommended for use when processing porous wood species.
- Sputtering. When staining wood by spraying, a manual or automatic sprayer is used as a tool for applying stain.
- Processing with a foam roller. This method avoids the formation of streaks and helps to distribute the mixture evenly over the entire surface.
- Wood processing paint brush . The method allows you to get a deeper and saturated color wood, however, it is not suitable for all types of impregnations.
- Before painting a surface with stain, it is necessary to remove old coatings from it, and then degrease it better.
- Surface made of coniferous species(for example, pine) must be deresined.
- It is necessary to paint wood with stain and remove excess only in the direction of the wood structure.
- It is recommended to cover the surface with 2-3 layers, while for the first layer a small volume of the mixture should be used.
- After the first layer has dried, the surface must be sanded and the raised lint removed, and then, if necessary, apply subsequent layers (each subsequent layer is applied only after the previous one has completely dried).
The approximate drying time for oil-based impregnations is about three days, and for water-based and solvent impregnations - 2-3 hours (depending on how many layers were applied). It is recommended to divide large areas of the surface to be treated into small areas and paint them in stages. To avoid the possibility of defects forming on the surface, the composition must be diluted. A solvent is used for this.
For water-based impregnations, water is used, for oil-based impregnations, paint solvents are used. Also, before starting work, the surface can be coated with Latek L 601 putty.
Plywood stains perform a purely decorative function. Therefore, if you are in doubt about whether to choose stain or varnish, it is recommended to use them in combination. Before covering the surface of the plywood, it must be moistened, and it is recommended to heat the mixture itself.
After covering the wood with stain, it should be treated with varnish (layers should be very thin to avoid the possibility of smudges). The tool you can use is a brush, roller or sponge. Wood varnish will enhance protective properties impregnation. By following these recommendations, you can easily stain wood at home.
Defects and their elimination
Carry out staining wooden furniture it is necessary to be extremely careful, otherwise there is a high possibility of the formation of defects that are quite difficult to eliminate. But if you know how to get rid of them correctly, then there shouldn’t be any problems.
The main defect is the formation of streaks. They arise as a result of applying a large amount of the mixture and its subsequent rapid drying. In this case, it is necessary to remove the layer of impregnation applied to the wood, then apply a new layer on it, which will soften it, and then remove excess impregnation with a rag.
After the wood stain has completely dried, it can be removed using paint solvents. Before that upper layer can be removed with sandpaper or a plane, since the solvent is not able to remove all the pigment.
You can choose a special remover that will remove the excess layer of coating impregnation from the wood. You can use a hair dryer in combination with a scraper and brush - sometimes this is better than washing.
The most difficult defect is spotting of the product. To remove it, the painted area is treated with a plane (this defect is not washed off with a solvent). In plywood, all face veneer must be removed. To avoid staining, it is better to use a gel stain or first apply a test layer on an unwanted piece of wood to see how the coating behaves on the desired surface. It is worth remembering that the impregnation must be stored in a place away from children.
Wooden surfaces look very natural and organic in any home. This natural material gives the home naturalness, environmental friendliness and beauty. It is especially appropriate to use wood in country houses and country houses, and this applies to both internal and external surfaces.
The only disadvantage of wood is that in kind it is not very resistant to external influences. Even indoors, products made from this material gradually lose their original luster.
What can we say about outside buildings where wooden walls are affected by humidity, wind, direct sunlight, sudden changes in temperature, and are also susceptible to attacks by various insect pests. All these aggressive environmental factors can naturally lead to damage to the surface.
The tree gradually loses color, becomes deformed and collapses. There is only one way to avoid this - with the help of high-quality processing. There are quite a few means for this, but one of the most popular is stain.
Stain is a product for treating wooden surfaces, the main function of which is in giving natural beautiful color . But, in addition to this, it also gives the treated area several necessary beneficial properties:
- moisture resistance;
- resistance to direct sunlight;
- protection from harmful bacteria that affect the destruction process.
The basis of this remedy can be aqueous, oily or alcoholic. But in any case, the principle of operation is the same. The stain, which is also called stain, does not cover the wood with any layer, but is absorbed inside, penetrating deep into the structure of the wood.
Thanks to this, the surface looks as natural as possible, leaving absolutely no impression of any color change. In addition, the wood fibers are slightly raised as a result of this treatment, which makes the structure more pronounced.
There is only three types of stains, each of which has certain features.
- Oil based. Usually the main component is linseed oil. This stain is sold in powder form, which must be diluted before use. The advantage of this product is its environmental friendliness and quick drying, which only takes 2-3 hours.
- On alcohol based. It dries even faster than oil, but this is fraught with the appearance of stains and stains on the surface being treated. To avoid this effect, apply stain using a spray gun.
- Water based. The most popular variety. The range of shades offered is extremely extensive, allowing you to choose a product to suit any design. Water-based stain is sold both in powder form and in a ready-made state. This product can be used for both interior and exterior work.
Thanks to its water base, such stain has one undeniable advantage - this, of course, no unpleasant odor. Among the disadvantages, we can mention the duration of drying; this process takes 12–14 hours.
There are also means to obtain white color. Typically, their main components are hydrogen peroxide or acid. The use of such a stain gives the wood white shade or simply makes it lighter, depending on the original color.
Colors and shades of water stain
Since water-based stain is the most popular, let’s look at it in more detail. Interestingly, this product can not only be purchased in the store, but also made independently. For example, there are quite a lot of plants with which you can get the desired shade:
- Larch - a decoction of its bark will give the processed product a reddish tone, this effect is especially noticeable on birch surfaces.
- Onion peel - also adds a reddish tint, suitable for light wood.
- Walnut shell - to make the product you need to grind it, boil it in boiling water, strain and add soda, this way you can get different shades, depending on the amount of shell.
- Alder, willow and oak - a decoction of the bark will give a black color; for this you need to mix alder with oak or willow.
- Buckthorn - a decoction of its unripe fruits will provide a beautiful golden-yellow tone.
- WITH brown tint you will have to tinker a little more - to obtain it you need to take equal parts of willow and oak bark, walnut shells and alder catkins, the mixture must be kept in cold water, then boil, cook, add a little baking soda and keep on fire for about 10 minutes.
- Same Brown color can be obtained using walnut shells and apple tree bark, from which you need to make a decoction.
And also, the stain can be prepared based on products that are found in almost every home:
To make the color more saturated, this process can be repeated several times. But it is worth remembering that wood treated in this way can quickly fade in the sun, so the final step should be use of any protective equipment- for example, varnish.
How to treat a surface with stain
The work of applying any type of stain includes several stages. First, of course, you need to prepare the surface that will be processed.
Thoroughly sand to make it even. This can be done using . During the process, you need to ensure that scratches do not form on the surface; you need to grind actively, but carefully.
After sanding, the surface will be covered with a layer of dust, which must be thoroughly wiped off. Followed by degrease the wood by any suitable means.
To complete the surface should be slightly moistened. This is done so that the stain lays down better and subsequently does not raise the wood fibers too much.
Rules and methods for applying stain
Once the surface is ready, you can proceed directly to application. There are several ways to get this job done:
Before using the product you should carry out a trial treatment on a test area of the surface to understand exactly what the final color will be. Both dark and white stain can give completely different shades, depending on the original quality of the wood.
When applying stain there are several things to consider: important nuances, which will help give the surface the desired look.
All the work does not take much time; such simplicity of the process is one of the main advantages of wood stain. The price at which you can buy it is also pleasing. The cost of water-based stain varies about 50 rubles. You can buy water-based stain at hardware stores.
Thus, stain - cheap, practical and high quality way to give any wooden surfaces many useful properties and excellent appearance.
Wood stains are a thing of the past; they only allow you to shade the natural color of the wood or darken it by several tones. Modern stains are wonderful antiseptics that prolong life many times over. wooden products, allowing you to paint wood in a wide variety of colors. The palette of stains is expanding more and more every year.
Varieties of stains
The classification of stains consists of dividing impregnations into groups depending on the quality of the base on which they are made.
Based on this, all impregnations are divided into:
- aquatic;
- oil;
- alcohol;
- acrylic;
- waxy.
I would like to note that when choosing a stain color, you must first carry out a wood sample of one or another shade of your choice. This necessity is dictated by the fact that wood of different quality has a different absorption coefficient, which determines the final color of the painted product.
For example, coniferous trees, due to the fact that they are impregnated with resins and oils, do not allow various impregnations to penetrate deeply into them, and therefore will not change color much, while deciduous trees, which have good absorption, will be colored more intensely.
Wood testing will allow you to avoid unnecessary costs and get the desired result.
Let's take a closer look at the main types of impregnation, wood stain colors, and photos of painted products.
This type of stain can be presented in two forms: liquid, ready for use, and dry - in the form of a powder for the manufacture of the final product.
A distinctive feature of water-based stain is that with its help, wood can only be painted in wood shades of varying richness; it will not be possible to radically change the color of the product.
Then apply a layer of water-based stain. In this case, the product will have an attractive appearance and will remain protected from negative impact moisture.
Excess water-based stain that has not been absorbed into the wood surface must be removed from the surface by blotting it with a lint-free cloth.
This type of stain makes it possible to paint wood in a wide variety of colors and shades. Oil-based stains are dyes dissolved in oil. White spirit, a universal dye for oil paints, is used as a solvent for this type of impregnation.
This type of impregnation is excellent antiseptic. Alcohol stain does not lift wood fibers, but has another significant drawback: it dries very quickly. Some will say that this is a virtue, but it is not. It dries so quickly that it is not recommended to apply it to wood with a brush, because... stains will remain, and the coloring will not have a decorative appearance.
Their advantages include the following:
- Don't rear up wood fibers, which means they protect the wood from the penetration of moisture into the wood panel.
- They form a layer on the surface of the wood that prevents the wood from getting wet;
- Allows you to paint in a wide variety of colors and shades.
- They dry out fairly quickly.
- They can be applied either with a brush or with a spray.
The main advantage of stains is that they do not paint over the natural structure of the fibers, but only emphasize and shade it, which gives the interior naturalness and originality.
Staining wood - effective method finishing, allowing you to emphasize its beauty and give the material the desired shade. Wood stains (stains), unlike paints, do not form an opaque layer on the surface of the wood, but penetrate inside it (as if fused). In this way, plain furniture made from cheap wood can be given a noble look.
What should you pay attention to when choosing a fighter?
The chosen material - oak, ash, walnut, etc.) may not look the same from different companies. Therefore, you should trust the visual impression, and not the inscription on the package.
It should be taken into account that manufacturers, as a rule, provide color samples on boards of inexpensive wood (for example, pine), and in a finished product made from a different material, the treated surface will look completely different. This is because different types of wood have different densities and structures. They also differ chemical composition elements. When applying the same stain, mahogany will look more almost unchanged in color (it is a very dense material), while poplar and oak will darken. At the same time, porous poplar will change color very quickly (it absorbs a lot of stain), and a distinct wood pattern will appear on oak, because it has a clearly defined structure.
In addition to the type of wood, the result will depend on the quality of the item. Therefore, before processing, you should definitely test the stain on invisible areas of all materials used.
Treated with stain whole pieces wood will appear darker than plywood of the same type of wood. This must be taken into account during production combined furniture. This problem can often be overcome by applying additional layers of dye in certain areas.
What types of beys are there?
Wood stains, like paints, are divided into two types depending on their purpose: for indoor and outdoor use. The latter include a pigment that does not fade under the influence of UV irradiation.
On sale there are paste-like (gels), powdered stains and stains in the form ready-made solutions.
In terms of their composition, they can be: aqueous, acrylic, alcohol, oil, chemical, wax.
Water stain for wood: advantages and disadvantages
In rooms, it is most often necessary to use a dye without a strong odor. In such cases, water-based stains are used. In addition, it is advisable to use these compositions when painting products with which contact is possible. food products or children.
Advantages of water stains:
No smell;
- harmlessness to human health when working with them;
- savings (no need to purchase solvent).
Flaws:
Relatively low color intensity;
- long term drying (about 12-14 hours);
- rise of pile on wood after applying stain. After the dye has dried, the surface must be sanded.
Acrylic stains: price differences
A modern type of water stain is acrylic stain. They are emulsions made on the basis of These compositions have a wider color palette (compared to conventional water-based stains) and are more resistant to fading. The only drawback that acrylic wood stain has is the price. If a water-based stain in a 500 ml plastic bottle can be purchased at a price of 12 rubles (on average - about 50 rubles), then the minimum cost of an acrylic analogue is 310 rubles. A water stain in a 200-liter barrel costs 4,800 rubles, and a non-water stain (“euro-bucket” with a volume of 20 liters) costs 1,710 rubles.
The nuances of applying stain
1. Material made from coniferous wood, such as spruce or pine, must first be deresined, because the resinous layers weakly absorb the dye and hardly change their color.
2. Before applying water stain, it is recommended to moisten the surface, since wet wood absorbs the dye better.
3. Wood stains penetrate into the material differently along and across the fibers. Longitudinal application of dye is more often used.
4. To tint wood, spray guns, brushes, rollers, and swabs made of fabric or foam rubber are used.
5. The dye tends to settle quickly. Therefore, when painting large areas, it is necessary to have in a separate container as much solution as is enough to cover the entire surface, while the composition must be stirred frequently during work.
6. If powdered stain is used, it must be dissolved in soft water, preferably distilled (according to the instructions on the package). Hard water can be softened by boiling or adding 1 teaspoon of baking soda per 1-2 liters of liquid.
7. To obtain a darker color, use a solution with a higher concentration.
8. If the coloring composition turns out to be cloudy, it should be filtered using filter paper, cotton wool or thick cloth.
9. Before staining, the surface to be painted should be thoroughly sanded and cleaned: remove oil stains with gasoline or other solvent, traces - hot water, dust - with a brush or rag.
10. Drips should be avoided because they are difficult to get rid of later. The dried layer of wood stain is very stable, and it can be completely removed from the wood only by sanding the surface.
11. When processing vertical planes, the coloring composition should be applied from bottom to top.
12. If the stain is heated before use, it will penetrate deeper into the wood.
13. To achieve desired result Stain can not only be directly applied to the surface, but also added to varnishes, primers and the like.
Formation of stains during staining and how to avoid it
This problem is due to the uneven density of the tree. For certain types of wood (such as walnut and mahogany), the mottled color can be attractive. But in most cases, spontaneously formed stains spoil the product. This defect can be avoided if you use a special conditioner, a layer of which will close the pores and prevent the stain from penetrating deep into the material. After treatment with conditioner, you should use a coloring gel that has the ability not to spread, but to lay down in an even layer.
To obtain the required shade of stain different color from the same manufacturer can be mixed with each other. In addition, the tone can be changed if another wood stain is applied to the painted wood, the price of which may differ from the cost of the stain used to process the first layer. This way you can save on purchasing a second expensive package of dye and expand the range of shades for tinting wood.
