How To Use Pre Stain Wood Conditioner On Floors

The technique of wetting the wood down before staining is called popping the grain.

How to use pre stain wood conditioner on floors.

Basically conditioner will stabilize the wood to allow stain to penetrate more evenly. Quickly brush or wipe on the conditioner let it penetrate and wipe it off just like stain. Now you need to apply the stain before the conditioner completely dries usually within two hours or so. It is a treatment for better and even color.

Use a brush or cloth to apply a liberal coat of the pre stain conditioner to all surfaces of your woodworking project. Stain conditioned or gel stained floors can look odd and artificial because the color hovers over the wood rather than embedding itself in the grain. Stain manufacturers will recommend their own conditioners. It enhances the beauty of wood stain by protecting it from splotchy and un even staining on wood.

The wood grain is so open that in one coat you should be able to get the look you want. Pre stain wood conditioner is necessary for soft porous woods such as pine dilution of the stain occurs slightly but the darker appearance on the non conditioned part of the wood is mostly due to uneven absorption. While some companies manufacture wood conditioner with a large concentration of solvents this may be too complicated to mix yourself. Imagine someone trying to create the appearance of a tan by using a foundation several shades darker than their natural skin tone would you be fooled.

The label on my can of minwax wood conditioner instructs me to apply the stain within two hours well before the wood conditioner has cured. For that purpose woodworkers use wood conditioners. Wood conditioner is used to partially seal the grain of porous wood. When you water pop wood you won t have to do multiple coats of stain either.

As with the stain you will soon apply always work in the same direction as the wood grain when applying the wood conditioner. Due to a wood conditioner wood remains safe from any streaking and darker spotting. Wipe off the excess. Allow the conditioner to penetrate the wood for 5 to 15 minutes and then wipe off any excess.

A wood conditioning is a simple pre staining step in a wood project.