# Penetrating Stain or Wiping Stain



## monty1975

To date I've stained with gel stain and penetrating stain. The gel stain was used on window casings where I didn't want the wood grain to pop and the wood was attached to the wall so I didn;t want a mess - gel stain was perfect.

The penetraing stain was used on some exterior doors and highlighted the natural differences in the wood pieces. When I use a penetrating stain on soft woods I always use a pre stain conditioner to avoid "blotchiness".

The guy at the Benjamin Moore store said that the wiping stain will give more depth but may but the grain a bit and the brochures recommended wiping stain for birch. 


I have two cans of old masters dark walnut stain sitting here in front of me - one is a penetraing stain and one is a wiping stain. if I want to highlight the natural grain of the antique birch doors I am going to stain - do I want the penetraing or the wiping stain?

I'd like the grain to look like this









Thanks,
brian


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## cabinetman

To me, a wiping stain is a penetrating stain. That's what I would use...a pigmented oil base stain. If you want more penetration, just thin it a little. As for blotchy, if the wood is sanded too smoothly, like with too fine a grit, that will prevent even stain penetration. If the surface is sanded too roughly, it will get very dark. Somewhere between 150x and 180x seems to work good.

Using a conditioner will help. Using a sealer (like thinned shellac) may do just that. It could seal to the point that the stain won't penetrate.


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## beerdog

I just stained a buch of birch trim and ballustrade in my house. I used minwax conditioner and SW penetrating oil stain. Using the reconditioner made the grain highlite better tha without it. From what I have read the wiping stain hides grain more because it sits on top of the wood, but I am surely no expert. Avisit to the library for a few book on finishing may help. Also might want to experiment on some birch samples.


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## jerry

Minwax sells what they call a penetrating stain- it contains both pigment and dye. What we always called wiping stain was a pigment only stain(only enough thinner to be able to easily apply) similar to a gel stain. Some wood will blotch no matter what,but as cabinetman says shellac will help to keep it to a minimum.


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## monty1975

Well - I used the penetrating stain but am disappointed with the results. 


I had an small old beat up can of minwax dark walnut and stained a a half inch stip I sliced off the bottom of the door and it had a nice color and really popped the grain.

Here's where I made my mistake - i used BM Old Masters dark walnut penetraing stain without testing it. A lot of guys slam Minwax as an amatuer product so I decided to use something "better". The old masters is very RED and left a muted grain pattern. I also expected it to get much darker considering my final sand was 150 grit.

They still pretty good though and will look nice once I darken them up a bit with some garnet shellac. Problem is that everytime I see them I'll be thinking "should have used the minwax stain". Note to self: always test THE products you will be using!










Brian


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## jerry

The minwax used over the entire door would have also been blotchy. They only make a few stains that are not "penetrating
stains.

Jerry


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## Wood4Fun

personally i think the door looks pretty good. once you put a top coat on, it will be a lot darker.


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## HicksBenedict

Wiping or Penetrating stains? Which one is better for your outdoor furniture?
Wiping or Interior stains are excellent for preserving the natural beauty of your home's wood. They're also easy to apply. But they won't last as long because wiping staining can rub off quickly in hot weather. If you want durable results on exterior surfaces like decks and siding - penetrating stain would probably be best suited


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