# Pre-stain wood conditioner time limits



## Ronnie1a (May 24, 2009)

I'm using pre-stain wood conditioner on Alder then a cherry color stain. The brand I bought is Miniwax. The directions say to "apply stain within 2 hours." I do not understand that part. What happens if I wait overnight before applying the stain?

I have another brand of conditioner but no mention of the 2 hour time limit???


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## RandyReed (Jul 30, 2014)

Ronnie1a;789 185 said:


> I'm using pre-stain wood conditioner on Alder then a cherry color stain. The brand I bought is Miniwax. The directions say to "apply stain within 2 hours." I do not understand that part. What happens if I wait overnight before applying the stain?
> 
> I have another brand of conditioner but no mention of the 2 hour time limit???


Minwax has that 2 hour window there because after that amount of time, it has fully cured and then acts as a sealer. So that means if you wait longer than 2 hours with the minwax product, it will cause the stain to be much lighter than it should be because the wood conditioner will not let the stain penetrate very deep into the wood pores. Be sure to scuff sand with 320 grit paper lightly after the conditioner has dried.

Most pre conditioners are formulated different and is why some do not mention a "window" to apply a stain over it. Depending on the formula, you can wait over night with some, while with Minwax its 2 hours.

Personally, I would rather have the 2 hour limit than an over night formula......it will get done quicker!


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

That one reason I like my homemade conditioner. I use a 50/50 mixture of linseed oil and mineral spirits. It doesn't matter if you let it dry or not.


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## RandyReed (Jul 30, 2014)

I hardly ever use a conditioner. Most of my dye stains are mostly acetone based with a little thinner added so I can use them on all woods with no blotching. I also hardly ever apply a wipe stain directly to any wood. I always shoot for 85% of my color with dyes.

If I did have to, I would use our t67f3 vinyl sealer (24% solids) reduced 1:8 with thinner as a wood conditioner. Ready to sand in 5 minutes.


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