How to stain maple

Yeah, I know, a highly figured piece of figured maple is hard to come by, but be selective when choosing wood for your project. Here is an internet post about problems staining maple and suggestions from readers. I really need some advice on staining maple.

From the way you are talking, these cabinets are already finished. If so, you would have to remove that finish by sanding, which would be a lot of work. Wood is porous, when you finish it the pores of the wood get.

Mix a solution of mild soap in lukewarm water. Swish to create a great volume of suds. Apply only the foam with a sponge.

Then seal and finish with the polyurethane varnish and wax, making note of how it turns out in each step of the process. Some types of woo like pine, cherry, birch and maple , are notoriously difficult to stain. Stain it with the chosen color.

A board that has a nice, attractive grain pattern can end up with dark, splotchy areas after you apply the stain. For DIY homeowners the best advice is to avoid staining Maple , Birch, and Cherry. One thing is for sure – good communication with your customer is a must. Everyone should be on the same page about the expectations and what to expect. As with other hardwoods such as cherry, maple can be a bit temperamental to finish, particularly when staining.

When applying a stain , be sure to use a pre-stain conditioner to try and even out the blotchy patches that tend to appear. Dye is different from your usual oil stains , and it’s just the thing for figured woods like curly maple. While you can just hit curly maple with a single coat of dye and move on to your clear topcoat, I like to do three diluted coats of dye and sand it off between each coat.

Let the stain dry for a day before applying a layer of polyurethane to seal the wood. The polyurethane will take up to two days to dry. Unlike oak and ash, the grain pattern of maple is uneven, causing it to absorb stains in varying degrees. To reduce any blotchiness, first apply a coat of a pre- stain wood conditioner. Even then, it is advisable to only stain maple with light to medium colored stains.

It’s very simple to stain maple, just two steps. First figure out what color you want spray thin coats with, either Star or Mohawk NGR stain. When you get the color you like, apply a Star or Mohawk oil stain for depth. The dye will block the grain in the maple and keep the stain from penetrating too deep and cause blotching.

When staining maple wood you will need to pre-treat the door with a coat that limits the absorption of the stain. The reason maple does not take a stain well is because it has an extremely tight grain, with looser spots. It is in the looser spots that the stain soaks in, but the hard parts resist the stain. I normally use Transtint dyes from Homestead Finishing or the Woodessence equilivent.

Dyes work better but limit the colors available. Maple is a difficult wood on which to achieve uniform stain , and the appearance can look as if the stain was not applied evenly. Dye stains will work for you. I personally use mixol dye. Do some research one using dye mixed stains.

Then mixing the dye into your finish will continue to darken with every finish coat applied. For exame stain the maple with brown stain or dye mix, then mix black dye into your finish and apply finish coats to further darken. Simply Search a Name and State. Hopefully this article was enlightening on maple flooring and staining it.

In the early days, maple was usually finished with a wax, or varnish. Now they are commonly finished with oil stains which just aren’t the same. Oil stains can be easily spread into the pores and cause widespread blotchiness.

Spray dyes and enamels are the best way to stain maple, but the color options aren’t as plentiful. If your maple floor is ol it takes the stain better and would be less blotchy than new maple floor would. Since we wanted to go really dark, we actually had it water poppe then dye then stained.

It is difficult to try to put a dark stain on it because it isn’t very stain friendly due to being hard wood it will most likely turn blotchy from the uneven way the wood lays naturally. For woods like rock maple , switch to a dye stain instead of a pigment stain. I know of only two companies selling ready to use premixed dye stains. Clearwater Color Company sells a water-based gel version through Woodworker’s Supply and a few other catalogs, and Behlen sells a solvent based liquid dye through a number of woodworking catalogs.

Fortunately, maple is a hard wood with tight grain, so stains tend to sit on its surface. Warnings Wear rubber gloves and safety glasses when handling bleaching liquids. Some woods like maple and pine have hard and soft spots in them and the soft areas absorb more stain then the hard spots so the stain goes blotchy. You would probably be better off with a oil stain brushing it.

The water based dye stain will be hard to get off. Blotchy Maple : I received a question recently about blotchy stained maple. The writer was really disappointed in the finish, especially because he was using a stain controller. And he wanted to know what happened. The grey dye established a uniform base color to build on and the stain provided most of the color.

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