How to Stain Wood (It's Easy, for Beginners)

As mentioned, check out this video for more great tips and colors you can use to dress you wooded projects. You gain a lot of tips of your own and will be surprised at how easy it it to do.

So here's our first block of wood that we'll be testing on.

You should wear gloves when working with wood stains. Also, Try and wear some clothes you don't mind getting dirty. Chances are, sooner or later, you'll end up splashing some stain on you...it happens, so work clothes are a good idea.

I'll be using this kitchen towel to apply the stain. You can opted for a rag or a store bought pad applicator. For me this towel does the trick. The downside is, little bits of towel fiber may come off and stick to your work piece....But I always come back and wipe the board with a clean towel to remove excess stain anyways.

Let's try this red oak stain by Minwax. You can stir or shake the can. The idea is to mix the stain so the color is consistent when it's applied. This is a good idea weather the can is new or has been sitting on the shelf for a while.

A key is always handy to have in your toolbox...

That's how the stain looks inside the can....

So, just dip the applicator in the can and wipe it on the wood. it's really that easy! Once applied to wood, the stain seeps into the fibers. The longer you keep the stain on the wood the more of it penetrates and darkens. Then just wipe off the excess with a clean towel.

This is how the Red Oak stain looks after applying and wiping off the excess.

The side of the wood board or end grain will stain very differently than the top of the board we already stained. The end grain has better capacity to absorb stain, therefore it will darken a lot more. (See photo)

If you allow these stains to dry for a day or two.....they will, on their own add protection to you pieces and projects. The stain, colors and oils will penetrate the wood and protect your work. There are further steps you can take to protect your finished projects even more. We will address the topic of clear coats in the next post. Check out the selection of stains I sample in the photo....

These are the various colors I used for this tutorial. You can see how all the samples look in the next photo. Also, if you want to learn more watch the video. Check out the next photo...

These colors really came out great. The exciting thing about using wood stains is that you can match colors to fit your needs. I have created so many furniture pieces for customers. The options for staining gives me a lot of room to be creative! It's really an exciting process...and easy. Thank you so much, I hope you are inspired to try this. I hope you let me know if you do.

We will touch on clear coats next. It's also an easy process and can add extra protection to your furniture and crafts..so I'll see you soon.