I HATE Water-Based Stain
Yep. Water-based stain sucks. I will never use it again.
The espresso water-based stain from General Finishes was the closest color to the bed I am trying to match for the stepstool. I had never used a water-based stain before, so I thought I would give it a shot. I had read about the usual problems, such as the stain raising the grain of the wood, but I was not prepared for the major pain that stuff is.
I originally started out staining with a rough-nap sponge applicator that I normally use for my oil-based stains. Turns out that was a big mistake. It was very difficult to apply the stain evenly across the wood, and the rough-nap kept leaving streaks in the color. The nice thing about the water base is that it washes off easily if you screw up.
I ended up using foam painting brushes to apply the stain, which gave me the best results. Overall, it turned out very nice. But, I spent about 12 hours staining when it should have taken me 3.
It might not have been so bad if the stain wasn’t so dark. But, next time I’ll try to find an oil-based stain that matches.
I feel you pain. Not really, but I do understand. I am still working out the kinks, but I have learned to use them really succesfully for over a year now. It only took me twelve years to really give waterbase stains a chance. It is like learning how to stain all over again. Happy Staining
Comment by Isaac — April 5, 2008 @ 6:20 pm
I work at an unfinished furniture store that sold General Finishes Water based stains.
and applied the product many times. We also sold it to customers as well. After constantly running into complaints from customers about difficulty of application and our own problems with lap marks, as well as the ever increasing costs of using an already pricey product with such low coverage, we said it wasn’t worth it. So we trashed remaining inventory.
Good luck trying to remove the lap marks. Instead you get light spots as the second application removes too much stain.
Now we use Zar oil based stain, which goes on effortlessly, leaves zero lap marks, excellent coverage and uniform finish. We let that dry 48 hours and spray water based top coat.
Comment by mike — April 6, 2008 @ 11:41 am