How do I stain laminate?

No laminate is solid and not porous. It will not accept stain. Easiest is to paint it. If you do want to stain it you can use gel stain. You would still need to paint with a base coat of light tone paint. The using a paint brush create faux grain with the gel stain. When dry seal with water based polyurethane

Hello I would suggest paint intead.

The Trick to Paint Laminate IKEA Furniture - Bless'er House

https://www.blesserhouse.com/how-to-paint-laminate-ikea-furniture/

Hi Kathy, sorry laminate is man made and will not take a stain. Hope this is helpful.

A man-made product (usually plastic) that is actually 'printed' to look like it has wood grain. It allows manufacturers to create furniture, cabinets, and flooring for less money. You canNOT stain laminate. ... The stain has nothing to soak into, and will literally sit on top of the laminate and never fully dry.Mar 16, 2017

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Use valspar cabinet enamel. You can get it at Lowe’s

Hi Kathy, unfortunately laminate isn't porous so there's no where for the stain to penetrate. Spray paint does work really well though and a whole bunch of other paints.

Hello Kathy,

Laminate doesn't stain, but you can give it the wood look if you use Contact, or you could use a special primer and then paint it with the base colour paint and then use a dry brush and the darker colour for the grain and drag it on to show the grain style you like. PS. Might be an idea to use a piece of Card Boa to try this method out first before going straight on to the wardrobes. Best wishes.

HI Kathy,

Here's a step by step on how to paint laminate:

https://www.wikihow.com/Paint-Laminate-Furniture

Painting your laminate furniture would be best. There are lots of posts here:

https://www.hometalk.com/search/all?filter=paint%20laminate

If is is laminate like a thin sheet of wood applied to finish a piece of furniture then yes it can be stained. If you are referring to laminate like a kitchen counter top then no you need to scuff and paint with a special paint.

Unfortunately you cannot stain laminate. But you can paint it. You will need:

Liquid Deglosser

Kilz or BIN stain blocking primer.

Benjamin Moore Advance paint, Sherwin Williams Acrylic paint or Behr Majestic

Clean rags.

Purdy Paint brush and mohair /or mini roller (or a paint sprayer if you want to avoid brush marks. . Wipe down your pieces with liquid deglosser on a clean rag first and let air dry for about 10-15 minutes.

Apply a coat of primer. Once the primer coat is dry, paint/roll/spray your enamel-based paint onto the primed surfaces

You can also purchase Allway GT3 Graining Tool Set 3Pc from Amazon which will make your piece look like wood.

Laminate is plastic, made at very high heat.

As others have explained, plastic is not permeable with stain.

I have a piece of Mid Century Modern furniture that has an original laminate top and someone put varnish or poly on top of it and it is flaking/bubbling/peeling and looks like heck. So please take your time on this.