# Pre stain wood conditioner



## Mdreibelbis (Mar 26, 2013)

Rookie question:

I'm working on a project using pine and got some pre stain conditioner from the big box store. I've never used it before so I tried it on a little test piece last night. The stain went on over it pretty well - but it is noticeably lighter than the spots with no conditioner. I guess this makes sense as the conditioner is doing it's job.

I'm going to have to put a few extra coats of stain on to get the darkness I want - will I have to worry about blotching happening on the additional coats - or will the wood conditioner and first coat of stain offer enough protection? In other words - I don't have to put another coat of wood conditioner on prior to each coat of stain do I?


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

Exactly which conditioner did you use? With proper application the conditioner is used only once before the first coat of stain.













 







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## Rick Mosher (Feb 26, 2009)

Mdreibelbis said:


> I'm going to have to put a few extra coats of stain on to get the darkness I want -


You are doing your testing on sample boards right? :yes:

You do NOT want to do multiple coats of stain. That will cause adhesion problems. You can thin the conditioner down more to allow the stain to penetrate better or can add color after sealing by glazing or toning.


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## Mdreibelbis (Mar 26, 2013)

Thanks - that was what I was thinking!

It's the MinWax Pre-Stain conditioner:


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## Mdreibelbis (Mar 26, 2013)

Rick Mosher said:


> You are doing your testing on sample boards right? :yes:
> 
> You do NOT want to do multiple coats of stain. That will cause adhesion problems. You can thin the conditioner down more to allow the stain to penetrate better or can add color after sealing by glazing or toning.


Yep - it's sample boards!


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

If you need to suppliment the color since you used a wood conditioner you can spray a dye stain over the top of the oil stain without causing any adhesion problems. Mohawk Finishing products makes a line of aniline dye powders which can be added to alcohol for this purpose. You can also use Transtint dyes which from what I understand is a better dye.


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## Bonka (Mar 24, 2011)

*Wood Conditioner*

The Minwax stuff @ the BORG, IME, is a waste of money and not a satisfactory product.
I make a sizing using hide glue or Charlers Neil's "Blotch Control."
Our fire place mantel is Fir. We used hide glue sizing on it and even the end grain is the same as the long grain and no blotching.
I have used it on both poplar and pine with the same results. The Bloth Control does a superb job also.


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## Bill White 2 (Jun 23, 2012)

I agree wholeheartedly with the Bonka man.
The MW stuff is a waste of time, effort and money.:thumbdown:
Bill


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## Mdreibelbis (Mar 26, 2013)

Well you've talked me out of the minwax conditioner - I just placed an order for the Charles Neil blotch control!

I bought some nice poplar for my next next project so it should get a good workout.

Thanks all!


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## mengtian (Nov 8, 2012)

I have used minwax conditioner on two projects. One came out good, the other so so. The one that came out good was poplar and the so so was pine. I only bought a small can so I might try Charlers Neil's "Blotch Control" next.


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## Sawdustguy (Dec 30, 2008)

I used MinWax pre conditioner on the pine woodwork in a house we had built and applied two coats of stain with no issues what so ever.


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## Mdreibelbis (Mar 26, 2013)

While waiting for the Blotch Control shipment to arrive I bought some darker stain (Rustoleum Dark Walnut) and put it down over the minwax conditioner and it came out quite nice - color wise. I think a single coat of this will be what I'm looking for (assuming the Blotch Control has a similar effect on lightening the color) - I'm going to have to sand down a few more sample pieces for testing methinks.


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

Mdreibelbis said:


> While waiting for the Blotch Control shipment to arrive I bought some darker stain (Rustoleum Dark Walnut) and put it down over the minwax conditioner and it came out quite nice - color wise. I think a single coat of this will be what I'm looking for (assuming the Blotch Control has a similar effect on lightening the color) - I'm going to have to sand down a few more sample pieces for testing methinks.


When testing a wood conditioners I would recommend makeing many samples or a long one. Sometimes you can test the stain and it will look great and 3" over on the same board you will have a bad spot. It's the same if no conditioner was used. A lot of the project looks great, it's just here and there is a soft spot that absorbs too much stain.


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## dustmagnet (Jul 12, 2012)

delete


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## del schisler (Nov 5, 2009)

Mdreibelbis said:


> Well you've talked me out of the minwax conditioner - I just placed an order for the Charles Neil blotch control!
> 
> I bought some nice poplar for my next next project so it should get a good workout.
> 
> Thanks all!


watch this video of the blotch control, which i have used ever sence it came out, never leve home with out it


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## Charles Neil (Oct 21, 2007)

and if ya have a question you can ask the feller who invented the stuff, right here !


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## Mdreibelbis (Mar 26, 2013)

Charles Neil said:


> and if ya have a question you can ask the feller who invented the stuff, right here !


Got my shipment in yesterday - Thanks!

Will be trying it out this weekend - looking forward to some great results.


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## Mdreibelbis (Mar 26, 2013)

*Blotch Control*

Finally got around to trying the blotch control on some pine - I really like the way it came out - we're about 99% blotch free.


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## srestrepo (Sep 28, 2012)

this is really nice. i'm still in the "inexplicably scared of staining or wiping any liquid on any of my project" phase. i'll have to give this stuff a shot when money permits.


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## Mdreibelbis (Mar 26, 2013)

srestrepo said:


> this is really nice. i'm still in the "inexplicably scared of staining or wiping any liquid on any of my project" phase. i'll have to give this stuff a shot when money permits.


Haha - I know. I find that doing a lot of sample test pieces gives me the confidence to take that last step and apply finish to the real project. Staining is the easy part as you just wipe any excess off - poly requires a bit more care from my limited experience.

The Charles Neil blotch control stuff works about 100% better than the minwax product I bought at the store. It's not cheap but I'm very happy with the results. Can't wait to do the other pieces and get this thing finished.


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