Staining Wood Doors DIY: 5 Steps + Tricks To Give You Professional Results

Ever wonder how to stain wood doors to give you professional looking results or are you into DIY wood staining. In This Video I break down the process of staining wood and wood doors with a wipe on oil base stain and divide it into 5 simple steps that will keep your stain job looking great and avoid problems and give you the best staining techniques for wood doors. My steps are 1 Prep work: Remove the Hardware, 2 Test and make up samples, 3 Sanding your doors, 4 Staining, and 5 Clear Coats. Some of the most important part of getting your stained wood to look good is to do the work beforehand and get set yourself up for success. I'll show you some sanding techniques and things to be aware of like what grit to sand too. I'll show you how to properly apply and wipe off stain. I also discuss how to seal your wood doors and clear coat them to protect the stain and briefly get into using lacquers or water based finishes. And as a bonus I'll show you some little tips and techniques you can do that can fix issues that may occur when staining your doors like how to fix glue spots, water popping wood grain before staining, and should you use a prestain wood conditioner

[@AgentWest]

What about an all-in-one stain/sealer? Do you still need to clearcoat after that? Would you even recommend using something like that on doors, cabinets, or furniture in general?

[@Ashton1andonly]

Good question! I'll preface my answer with " I don't have a lot of experience with all in one stain sealers" ... but I have used it a little bit. Technically, you wouldn't need a clearcoat after using an all-in-one as basically it's just a clear coat with a colour added to it, which is great for eliminating steps and for ease of use and refinishing already finished wood without stripping it to bare wood. However, using a compatible clear coat on top of that would give you better wear protection and more protection from UV ( I've done exactly this on an exterior fiberglass door before, and I've been told it's held up over the years) As for recommending using it over furniture and cabinet doors it depends... There are definitely some pros with using an all-in-one, but if I had to choose my go-to, it would be a separate stain and top coat method... my reason for this is that a traditional wipe on stain will give you better depth and character in your finished product ( but depends on the look you're going for). The 2nd reason would be on anything with any complex profiles like some doors or furniture might have. After applying the all-in-one it could leave the finish looking darker in grooves and inside corners as an all-in-one is hard to control how evenly it gets applied in those spots... Hopefully, this all makes sense. Ultimately, every product has pros and cons, and if you're able to play around with both and one gives you the look you're after, then that's the best product for you to use for your project. Cheers!

[@AgentWest]

​@@Ashton1andonly Makes sense! Thank you for the info. As a side note, what was that red-ish stain you used for the doors in the video? I like that color and stain feels like it has some good pigmentation to it.

[@Ashton1andonly]

Hey, the stain I used in the video is a wiping stain made by Chem Craft. It's called "New Walnut". However, I'm not sure if this is something you will be able to find where you're located. Although, I do know that Minwax has some similar coloured wiping stains that work well. I'm just not sure which colour off the top of my head that would be closest to this...

[@AgentWest]

@@Ashton1andonly Never heard of the Chem Craft brand, but good to know that it's just "walnut" color and nothing fancy. I'm going to look at other brands, though it seems to be way brighter in your video than even Chem Craft's own sample pictures.