13 Best Solid Deck Stain For Old Wood (2023 Updated)

Works as expected. Small amounts of dyes, but they are very concentrated. Just a little tiny pinch of red with an even smaller pinch of blue mixed with about 4 ounces of rubbing alcohol made a nice Burgundy colored dye.

I used three coats of it, wiping off the excess each time. The rubbing alcohol dries a little too fast. I think next time I’ll add a little water to slow down how fast it dries, so I’ll have more time to wipe off the excess before it dries to highlight the grain better.

It dyed my apricot wood carving a Burgundy color. I painted it with polyurethane afterwards. It’ll be fun to experiment with it to make various colors on different woodworking projects. I also mixed up a small amount of the black pigment to darken certain areas of the carving before dying the rest of the bare wood parts with the Burgundy dye.

The apricot wood I used had very fine subtle grain. It would probably look a lot more interesting with a wood with a more pronounced grain. My only complaint is that the instructions are printed in microscopic print on the inside of the cardboard sleeve.

But the instructions are thorough though after you find a magnifying glass to be able to read them.

i’ve used this on several guitars now over the years, and the results are always astounding. really easy to use. i recommend mixing it with a higher proportion of denatured alcohol. i like 50/50 or so with warm water when mixing.

it dissolves easily, and makes a great consistency that way. i use a soft clean t-shirt rag to apply it, and work it in. the effects can be positively stunning. its super easy to mix and use and the finishes you can achieve will blow your mind.

it works well on the usual mahogany and maple, and most other woods. only mix a little more than you need, as it does NOT keep very long, tho the alcohol can make it last longer. be careful and dispose of used rags properly when using any kind of finish like this.

all in all a stellar product. 10 stars, all the way.

To begin with Many Thanks Keda for listing this product on eBay. There are just a few company’s that sell dye colors and, your rich and power colors are just the best. The biggest plus is they are offered at an affordable price.

the fact that these colors can be mix into any color combination I’m looking for makes these colors the perfect choice for me. Your doing it right and it shows. Happy Guy.

LOVE! I love this gel stain. You see it all over social media and I fell for it and finally tried it. Glad I did. It is super easy to use. I had a 30 year old, very blonde (almost yellow) oak table and chairs set.

I still like the set, I just hate the color. It was abused and beat and looked like trash so I figured I had nothing to lose. Sorry about the photo, it was the best “after” shot I could find. I literally took a piece of 180 grit sandpaper and spent about 30 minutes quickly running it over the surface of a 60×72 table with ornamental legs, and 6 spindle back chairs.

I went quick, and haphazard and just wanted to scuff the surface, but not really sand it other than to try and get out a pen mark on the table. I did not remove the poly coat or anything. I wiped the bit of dust off and proceeded with an old sock over 2 gloves, yes 2.

I then wiped the gel on all surfaces, nooks and crannies and wiped it in as I went, left no wet edges and let it dry over night. The next day I did the same thing because I wanted it a bit darker. I followed up with a Minwax satin topcoat because I did not want glossy and I did not like the General Finished Top Coat.

I am so happy with the result. I also used the same color on some cherry night stands. For those I painted on one good coat to keep it opaque and they are gorgeous! I’m going to do my whole bed set and it doesn’t even look like the same set.

Super easy to use, do not be afraid of it like some social sites tell you. It is very user friendly as well as beginner friendly. I just wish it was easier to find in a store in my town, I have to order it online.

I’ver used this on several projects in my home, including changing the look of my kitchen cabinets. People began asking me if I had new cabinets installed. Beautiful. Used sponge brushes to apply. Went on easily.

Very pleased. The General Finishes stuff has a good reputation anyway and it’s easy to see why. I always try to use their stuff if they have an option that matches my current project.

I used the product on an exterior deck that included builtin planters, railing, balusters, etc. I found the product super easy to apply everywhere except that large horizontal part of the deck. There I did not find it as easy to remove excess product (per Monocoat instructions).

The result still looked great. We waited a week, in warm dry weather before putting furniture back. Howevermoving a deck chair left visible scratches. This may be the result of not getting enough excess product off the surface during application.

Adding rubber stick on feet solved this problem. Its good to know that we can touch up without having to strip the finish. Also, while the product is rated as being zero-VOC, it not clear how to clean brushes, etc without using pain thinner, turpentine or a similar compound.

Monocoat does not provide guidance of cleanup anywhere that I can see.

Actually, none of the “describe this product” options is what I would choose for this product. It is a good product but way overpriced. I started using it years ago and feel like I am “hooked” in order to continue the maintenance on my home with the transformation stain.

I am looking for other options. I gave it 4 starts because it is good stuff, but any recommendation comes with a disclaimer due to the cost. Over $500 for a 5 gallon can. Really!??.

We hired someone to help us stain our new wood deck. The gentleman suggested applying Cedarshield before staining. He had so many great things to say about it; how it protects the wood from water, bugs, ect.

I was so happy to hear he recommended and loved the product. We had purchased it a while ago but had not had time to apply it. I was surprised that he knew about the product but he was more surprised to see we knew about it and had it in our basement already.

We ended up ordering more because our deck is very large.

I bought this to add colour to a Alder wood live edge table I made. I tested it before use and the piece I had it looked fine. I followed all the directions using pre-stain, waiting 1. 5 minutes for stain to penetrate before wiping off.

As you can see when I applied it to the entire table, some places are super dark and some really light. The stain didn’t absorb evenly at all. Even in the light places it’s almost completely covered the grain.

Maybe other colours are better, but “dark Cherry” is awful! Debating sanding it and starting over.

I needed a dark colour stain for a cabinet and other brands did not match or were not in stock. I took a chance on this product. I did not realize it was going to set into a dark colour stain with varathane tough coat finish.

I had expected to stain one day and varathane the next day. This product does both at once!! It left a beautiful glossy finish on my cabinet as if I had bought it that way. Very impressed with this product.

I used the Varathane wood stain on a Christmas porch board. It was easy to apply and dried quickly. The dark walnut color needed only one coat. I applied white vinyl to the board to produce an excellent result.

I also used the same stain on a few wooden crates that I use around the house. The results were great with only one coat.

I applied this CLEAR STAIN product to expensive garden furniture. Whilst careful to apply thinly i still had pink runs. After 7 days the stain is still slightly tacky. Fortunately i only applied to one garden bench and waited to see how things turned out.

I will now have to sand down that bench, apply a different make product and bin the unused tins. Over the last 60 years i have used Cuprinol many times and always been satisfied but i have never used their clear stain before.

This was an expensive mistake.

Used this product for several years and previously excellent. Now re-formulated and nothing like the original. Unlike previous, this is NOT a stain, but a coating which does not sink into the wood. The grain does not show through.

Worse still, it takes forever to dry (ideal conditions) and leaves leaves a skin of ‘paint’ on the surface which will peel off. Treated over existing finish with correct preparation but has blistered in places.

It shouldn’t be allowed to be called the same product. Do NOT recommend!.

We bought a six seater garden bench/table made of pale pine. One tin of Cuprinol 750ml covered the whole table top and bottom with one coat and produced a really great colour/finish. Ok, I bought another tin and gave all the upper surfaces a second coat.

The result was excellent. I’ll keep the excess for future use. Recommended.