You can use a pre-stain wood conditioner to seal the pores of the surface before you apply your stain. This will ensure that the stain goes on smoothly without blotching on your wood. Apply a top coat. Protect your stained wood with a clear top coat. Stain by itself doesn't offer any protection against moisture, and may come off on your hands or clothing. A pre-stain wood conditioner is an organic product made of organic elements that have been designed to help with the penetration of the stain onto the surface. A pre-stain wood conditioner is applied to bare or open, unfinished wood to keep it from soaking up all the stain. This will help you to get the best possible coverage with your stain. https://youtu.be/rjPX1byriM8 Video can’t be loaded because JavaScript is disabled: Make Stains Look Better! | DIY Blotch Prevention Formula (https://youtu.be/rjPX1byriM8) Step one – Using a brush or a clean rag take the wood stain conditioner and apply it all over the types of wood, work with the wood grain not against it for the most natural finish if you are worried about your coat of wood conditioner turning your wood lighter first then do a small patch test first.

A wood conditioner prepares the surface of the wood by providing a shield against moisture and sealant so that stains can penetrate more easily. Use a water-based pre-stainwood conditioner with water-based stains. With a water based stain conditioner, you don't need to worry as much about strong smells and harmful fumes. Many people like water-based products because you can easily clean it up with soap and water.

Making Your Own Conditioner

Some wood species are more agreeable to stain than others. Soft or porous woods like pine are easy to use, but has an open grain that can cause uneven stain absorption. You can also use a mixture of wood glue, water-based clear finish and water to create what is called "glue-size." You may have noticed that wood glue prevents stain from soaking into the wood, which creates light spots at the joints that can seriously mess up your project.

Test your complete finishing process before starting. The colour of stain is affected by variances in wood and deepened by the application of topcoat. The stain should be allowed to sit for at least five minutes before wiping off. This allows the color to fully penetrate and dry into the wood. I recommend that the stain be applied in a generous amount and then left to sit for around 15 minutes before it is wiped off. If you wipe the stain off too soon, you will get less color penetration and intensity. It’s best to take your time when applying a stain because all of the hard work pays off in the end with a beautiful finish! The quality of the wood also matters. For example, you'll see more blotches after staining construction grade pine 2x4 boards than you will after staining a perfectly milled piece of pine.A pre-stain wood conditioners main job is to even out the absorption of your wood stain when applied, it does this by sealing the wood to create a more uniform coat no matter the wood density. Sanding. If you haven't already, sand your bare wood to at least 180 grit. It's important to sand with the grainand avoid over or under-sanding any one location - good sanding can prevent a lot of blotchiness! Now, let's learn the steps for applying wood conditioner. This section will give you the general guidelines, but each brand and type of pre-stain conditioner might have slightly different steps. Follow the instructions on the container - it saves more hassle than you think! Frequently Asked Questions about Wood Conditioner What happens if wood conditioner is left on for too long?

Most store-bought wood conditioners give you a two hour window time between applying your conditioner and applying your main stain. The second thing about oil-based products is that you'll need mineral spirits to clean it up. For this reason, I recommend using a cheap foam brush that you can simply throw away when you're done. Water based wood conditionerStir Pre-Stain Conditioner Natural to reincorporate solids that have settled to the bottom of the can before and throughout the application process. Before we get into discussing which woods need these conditioners and how to use them on a piece of wood, we need to understand how these store-bought wood conditioners work to eliminate blotchiness.