Gel Stain, Changed My LIFE.

I am only SLIGHTLY exaggerating here, but  in all honesty, before my husband, I used to HATE to stain items.

So then he took on side job while out in California where he had to strip and re-stain some dresser's.  This is when he introduced me to Minwax's "Gel Stain" and now I simply cant get enough. (my favorite stain color is "Aged Oak.")

Now a reminder...I am not a professional when it comes to this, but I do have some decent "creds."  While I was in college I had the opportunity of a lifetime, I did my internship with none other then, Pie Town Productions (also known as HGTV.) I worked on the sets of Design On a Dime, Designed To Sell and a few other seasonal shows. (Talk about a dream) so as I said, I may not be a PRO, but I've been there, done that...a few times;)

Okay..so back to the Gel stain, I find this way of staining easy, "semi" foolproof and SO FUN!

(and when my husband makes me go back to the normal stain...I kick, cry and scream...seriously:) 

So in preparation for my next blog, I needed to stain a lovely crate...perfect timing, huh?

Its literally as easy as....

 Dip your brush into the stain and "paint" it on, just make sure you are brushing with the grain of the wood. (very important, otherwise you'll see streaking, or brush strokes)

 Completely cover the piece of wood you are working on,  don't worry about excess because the next step is to wipe the excess of with an old rag. (Just be sure to watch your edges around the wood, as the excess may spill over the sides.)  Again, just wipe it away, if it has dried a little, just use a little muscle and it should rub off. 

 When it comes to nail holes or divets in the wood, I prefer them to be "fully" stained.  If you see in the first picture, I started to stain the board and you can still see some of the natural wood coming through.  My solution is to just press hard with your foam brush over those holes, the excess stain that is inside your brush comes out and...

fills in the holes (as you can see on the left.)  I simply just use that excess stain to keep going on the rest of the board, or if you are already done, just wipe it away with the rag. 

It's literally THAT easy! (at least with Gel stain, that is)

 

Just remember to continue to go around the box and wipe off the excess (like I found on the outside of my box, as I was staining the inside, shown above) ALSO remember to get your edges, and inside the crevices too!

OH! And one last tip...make sure you use a little "extra" stain when working with big knots, seeing as the grains in the wood are deeper around these sections!

Here is the box finalized (I like to paint the inside) Sorry about the bad coloration on the photo:(  (but you'll see more of this box for my next post!)

Here are two other projects my husband and I stained with the same Minwax, Gel Stain

same color (Aged Oak) to give you a better idea of the coloration....

A BEAUTIFUL headboard for some friends out in California, The Fongs! 

(who we miss dearly)

And a beautiful new bed for our niece,  Delaney!

So did I cover everything? Any questions? Please feel free to let me know!

Enjoy!