Considering adding a blue wood stain to your wood project? Check out Varathane Vintage Aqua – our full review & how it looks on 4 types of wood!
Traditional wood stains are brown or gray in color, reflecting natural wood tones.
However, it can be fun to mix it up.
Instead of painting your next wood project, or staining it a shade of brown – what about a blue wood stain!?
When it comes to blue, nothing screams fun like bright turquoise. And bright turquoise is what you get from Varathane Vintage Aqua.
Varathane Vintage Aqua
Varathane is a brand commonly carried at the Home Depot.
Vintage Aqua is a very bright light to medium toned blue color.
It’s darker than baby blue but much lighter than royal blue.
It’s really a shade of turquoise and it really very pretty!
You can see it in action on this foot stool that we made!
Here is how Varathane Vintage Aqua looked on each of four wood types!
How does Varathane Vintage Aqua stain look on oak?
Oak is a really beautiful wood with natural red undertones.
It’s also a hardwood which means it is less absorbent than other wood types.
That being said, I don’t love Vintage Aqua on oak. It looks a bit foggy and the blue tones don’t play well with the red oak. Just not my favorite!
How does Varathane Vintage Aqua stain look on pine?
Pine wood has natural yellow tones with some slightly darker graining.
Vintage Aqua is a good option if you want a brighter, lighter blue color. It doesn’t feel quite neon on pine and reads as a bit of a cooler graywash.
How does Varathane Vintage Aqua stain look on poplar?
Poplar has natural green and some purple undertones.
Poplar has little almost dashes it it’s wood grain which gives it the look of a lot of texture.
Poplar is very absorbent and vintage aqua looks pretty neon on it. If you want the neon highlighter blue look – this is your stain! If not – maybe not.
How does Varathane Vintage Aqua stain look on a 2×4?
2x4s are usually very light wood with darker knots and holes. Most people don’t use 2×4 for projects you would really stain, but we still tested it for you!
2x4s have grain that varies widely between white and golden yellow. I find that stain takes to this grain differently, giving it a striped look.
Vintage Aqua looks bright but not quite too neon on 2×4. It just doesn’t give much coverage, and usually if I am going to bother staining a 2×4, I want darker coverage.
Once your stain has completely dried, don’t forget to seal it! Here are our tips for sealing stained wood.
Need to fill a project? Here are our favorite wood fillers compared!
Before you stain, learn about pre-stain wood conditioners and if you should use one!
We tested these ten stains on five different wood species!
Check out our favorite white wood stains and black wood stains and gray wood stains!
Here are our favorite light wood stains + dark wood stains!
Be sure to watch my video on how to open a can of wood stain.
Be sure to check out our other DIY wood stain ideas!
Any questions about Varathane Vintage Aqua?
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Hello, I’m Morgan, half of the creative force behind CharlestonCrafted.com! With a passion for DIY that dates back to 2012, I’ve transformed three homes and now I’m dedicated to helping others craft their dream spaces. Let’s turn your house into a home together!