Want to pick the perfect wood stain for your next project? Let’s talk about how to stain wood, how to make wood stain, and our favorite wood stains in action!
Whether you are an experience woodworking or new to DIY, you know that the wood stain that you choose for your project can completely change the final result.
You want a perfect, even finish in a color that complements your project and the surrounding home decor.
But, there are so many wood stains available at the store – it can be super overwhelming to pick the perfect one for your project.
In this guide, we will cover everything you need to know about wood stains! From how to apply stain to which brands and colors are best for different species of wood, we cover it all.
We will even show you several ways to make homemade wood stains for a totally custom look!
We hope that this guide will help you determine the best wood stains for any project and help you get professional-grade results!
How to apply wood stain
Applying wood stain is easy, as long as you know what you are doing. Here are some of our wood stain tutorials!
- How to apply wood stain
- How to open a can of wood stain
- When to use a pre-stain wood conditioner
- How to choose the right wood stain for your projects
- How to match wood stain to an existing project
How to stain specific types of wood:
- How to stain oak
- How to stain plywood
- How to stain pine
- How to stain poplar
- How to seal stained wood
- How to apply wood stain over white paint
Wood Stain Troubleshooting:
- How to prevent wood stain blotches and streaks
- How to fix blotchy wood stain
- How to get wood stain off your hands
- How to clean wood stained surfaces
Homemade wood stains
Feel like getting crafty? Here are a few of our favorite ways to make wood stain – without buying any wood stain!
- How to stain wood with tea
- How to stain wood with vinegar
- How to dye wood with food coloring
- How to stain wood with watered down paint
The best wood stains by color
In a quest to find the best wood stain for each project, we did an experiment where we tested 10 types of wood stain each on 5 species of wood!
We have also done a ton of side-by-side comparisons so you can see how different wood stains within the same color family compare to each other.
- Black wood stains
- White wood stains
- Gray wood stains
- Light gray wood stains
- Weathered Gray wood stains
- Ebony wood stains
- Dark wood stain colors
- Light wood stain colors
- Blue wood stains
- Cool toned wood stains
- Warm toned wood stains
Best wood stains by wood type
If you have your wood set but are deciding on a finish, you will love these tests of wood stains by species of wood.
- Wood stains on oak
- Wood stains on pine
- Wood stains on poplar
- Wood stains on white wood
- Wood stains on birch plywood
Here are all of the best food safe wood stains!
Specific wood stain reviews
We have also reviewed a ton of wood stains individually!
Minwax wood stains
- Classic Gray
- Dark Walnut
- Puritan Pine
- Silvered Gray
- Simply White
- Slate
- Tinsmith Gray
- True Black
- Weathered Gray
- Weathered Oak
Varathane wood stains
- Antique White
- Black
- Briarsmoke
- Classic Black
- Early American
- Gray Stone
- Smoke Gray
- Sunbleached
- Weathered Gray
- White Wash
Wood staining essentials
Ready to get to work? Don’t forget to grab our wood staining essentials!
If you’re looking to build your own projects to stain, check out all of our woodworking resources!
Want help getting the perfect wood stain finish?
Be sure to grab our FREE wood stain troubleshooting cheat sheet, with the top staining problems + easy solutions for each!
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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!