My Very First Attempt at Wood Staining
Hello!
I hope everyone is having a great February! One of the things I want to do with my blog is to share my new discoveries working with wood. I wouldn't call myself a woodworker as my experience is very new, maybe a woodworker apprentice? I started making my signs because I was looking for a new medium to cross stitch on other then fabric. After a lot of research and thought I decided to use wood for cross stitching. I then needed something to make holes in wood that would be uniform and easier then a drill. After a lot of research I settled on the XCarve by Inventables. Once I started making my signs I was hooked and I wanted to learn more about making things with wood.
While I love making my signs I want to expand and make more handiworks so my next adventure with wood is wood staining. I've watched a lot of videos and read a lot of posts on wood staining. Some tips were the same and some tips were preference, so I picked a few tips that I thought would work and got started. Here is my first attempt at wood staining.
I began with sanding. I first sanded the wood I chose, for this project I chose pine wood. I picked 3 grits of sand paper, 120, 180 and 220. I wanted to go 120, 150, 180 but after going to 2 box stores I couldn't find 150 grit sand paper. I sanded 3 pieces of wood for this project.
I then used the XCarve to cut out my shape. For this project I'm making a house shape.
The XCarve left a few rough surfaces so I sanded each piece again using grit 220. I then wiped down each piece with a damp cloth and let them dry.
Now it was time to stain. I used 2 stains. One was Varathane Premium Wood Stain, I chose the color Vintage Aqua. The other was Miniwax Wood Finish Penetrating Stain, I chose the color Red Oak.
I started with the Varathane stain first. I used a plastic spoon to stir the stain. I used a t-shirt rag that I purchased for staining. I applied a generous amount of stain working with the grain. I started at the bottom and worked up staining the front, back and sides. The stain went on thick and coated very well. I liked how it went onto the wood. I let it sit for approx. 3 minutes and then wiped the excess stain with a clean rag. I let it dry for a little over an hour. It came out lovely. I love the color, it's even throughout the hole piece of wood. There are no streaks or blotches. It really looks wonderful. I'm very happy with the application and the color.
The next sign was the Miniwax red oak. I did the same process as I did with the Varathane. I applied it in a generous amount going with the grain. The stain went on well but was watery compared to the Varathane. I let it sit for a few minutes and wiped off the excess. While there wasn't any blotching I could see lines where I maybe began to wipe the stain on the wood or where I had stopped and picked up the rag. I felt I did an even coat but maybe not? I'm not sure if it is the brand or the colors or even the rag I used. This one didn't turn out nearly as well.
My end result is I like the Varathane much better then the Miniwax. I'm not sure if the mistakes are on my part or if it's the brand. I liked the application of the Varathane much better. I'm also not sure if I just really loved the color and how the first application went and was a little lax on the second. However this gives me the excuse to get more stain and try again! I'm curious if the Varathane worked the way it did beacuse of the color, so I'll be picking up more Varathane stain and test out more pieces. I'll post a part 2 of my staining experience soon. For now I'll finish my plan for the house shape. I'll be carving the aqua blue house and maybe I'll sand and restain the red oak house.
I hope you enjoyed my post any thoughts, comments or help would be much appreciated. I'll post part 2 of my staining adventure soon! In the meantime keep crafting, creating and doing the things you love!
~ Jennifer
Milly Bean Handiworks
You can find me on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook!
Also my shop Millybeanhandiworks.com
This post is my own opinion, I didn't receive compensation for this post.
I hope everyone is having a great February! One of the things I want to do with my blog is to share my new discoveries working with wood. I wouldn't call myself a woodworker as my experience is very new, maybe a woodworker apprentice? I started making my signs because I was looking for a new medium to cross stitch on other then fabric. After a lot of research and thought I decided to use wood for cross stitching. I then needed something to make holes in wood that would be uniform and easier then a drill. After a lot of research I settled on the XCarve by Inventables. Once I started making my signs I was hooked and I wanted to learn more about making things with wood.
While I love making my signs I want to expand and make more handiworks so my next adventure with wood is wood staining. I've watched a lot of videos and read a lot of posts on wood staining. Some tips were the same and some tips were preference, so I picked a few tips that I thought would work and got started. Here is my first attempt at wood staining.
I began with sanding. I first sanded the wood I chose, for this project I chose pine wood. I picked 3 grits of sand paper, 120, 180 and 220. I wanted to go 120, 150, 180 but after going to 2 box stores I couldn't find 150 grit sand paper. I sanded 3 pieces of wood for this project.I then used the XCarve to cut out my shape. For this project I'm making a house shape.
The XCarve left a few rough surfaces so I sanded each piece again using grit 220. I then wiped down each piece with a damp cloth and let them dry. Now it was time to stain. I used 2 stains. One was Varathane Premium Wood Stain, I chose the color Vintage Aqua. The other was Miniwax Wood Finish Penetrating Stain, I chose the color Red Oak.
I started with the Varathane stain first. I used a plastic spoon to stir the stain. I used a t-shirt rag that I purchased for staining. I applied a generous amount of stain working with the grain. I started at the bottom and worked up staining the front, back and sides. The stain went on thick and coated very well. I liked how it went onto the wood. I let it sit for approx. 3 minutes and then wiped the excess stain with a clean rag. I let it dry for a little over an hour. It came out lovely. I love the color, it's even throughout the hole piece of wood. There are no streaks or blotches. It really looks wonderful. I'm very happy with the application and the color.
The next sign was the Miniwax red oak. I did the same process as I did with the Varathane. I applied it in a generous amount going with the grain. The stain went on well but was watery compared to the Varathane. I let it sit for a few minutes and wiped off the excess. While there wasn't any blotching I could see lines where I maybe began to wipe the stain on the wood or where I had stopped and picked up the rag. I felt I did an even coat but maybe not? I'm not sure if it is the brand or the colors or even the rag I used. This one didn't turn out nearly as well.
My end result is I like the Varathane much better then the Miniwax. I'm not sure if the mistakes are on my part or if it's the brand. I liked the application of the Varathane much better. I'm also not sure if I just really loved the color and how the first application went and was a little lax on the second. However this gives me the excuse to get more stain and try again! I'm curious if the Varathane worked the way it did beacuse of the color, so I'll be picking up more Varathane stain and test out more pieces. I'll post a part 2 of my staining experience soon. For now I'll finish my plan for the house shape. I'll be carving the aqua blue house and maybe I'll sand and restain the red oak house.I hope you enjoyed my post any thoughts, comments or help would be much appreciated. I'll post part 2 of my staining adventure soon! In the meantime keep crafting, creating and doing the things you love!
~ Jennifer
Milly Bean Handiworks
You can find me on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook!
Also my shop Millybeanhandiworks.com
This post is my own opinion, I didn't receive compensation for this post.
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