Best Wood For Staining (Quick Guide!)

Do you intend to apply a stain on some wood? If this is the case, you might be curious about which type of wood best takes stain.

The response to that question depends on the style you are going for. However, there are a few standard options that are effective against most stains. 

They also take stains the best of any wood.

 Continue reading to find out which types of wood are the finest for staining and which ones will give your project the aesthetic you’re striving for.

We will assist you in determining the species of wood that accepts stains correctly.

VIDEO: Best Wood Stain

The Best Type of Wood to Stain

Oak is considered the ideal wood for staining because it has big pores that readily absorb the stain. 

Cedar is also famous for its excellent resistance to the penetration of stains. Chestnut, hickory, and ashwood are other types of wood that readily accept stains.

What exactly is a stain?

A treatment for wood that alters the color of the wood is called a stain. 

There are numerous varieties of wood stain color, each with its own set of characteristics and benefits.

 The porous surface of the wood is penetrated by the stain so that the color is distributed evenly throughout the wood’s thickness. 

As a result, it is possible to obtain darker wood tones by allowing the stain to sink deeper into the wood; nevertheless, lighter wood finish tones can be achieved by applying the stain more sparingly.

If desired, a stain can be placed on the wood project and left there for an extended period, or it can be removed practically from the surface of the exterior wood as soon as it is applied. 

Several best wood stain are available, each with unique characteristics, such as quick-drying or oil-based formulations.

Woods That Take Stains Very Nicely

There is no need to continue your search for a type of wood that accepts stains correctly;

Oak

One of the most typical kinds of hardwood flooring is constructed from this wood species. It has a shade between light brown and medium brown and works wonderfully as a stain. 

So it is no surprise that it is the best wood for desktops because of its attractive appearance and distinctive grain pattern.

Is it possible to dye oak wood? Oak does have the ability to receive stains quickly due to its natural grain pattern as well as its large, open pores.

 However, even though stained kitchen cabinets were all the rage in the 1980s, they look a touch dated now, particularly stains with a burgundy undertone.

For a more contemporary look, white oak should be stained with a hue with cold undertones, per our recommendation.

Red Oak

There are a few key distinctions between white wood and red oak, although both are types of wood.

 First, because it has more open pores, it takes on stains much more quickly than white wood does.

Staining red oak with colors that have a medium tone, such as rosewood or mahogany, brings out the best in the wood’s natural grain pattern. 

Red oak works best with these colors. It is also simple to work with and not overly expensive to purchase.

White Oak tree

 Can white oak be stained successfully? Staining white oak wood is much more challenging than staining redwood because white oak wood has tighter pores. 

As a result, staining white oak will require multiple coats, but the finished product will have a stunning golden hue and be highly satisfying.

If you want high-end white oak, you should purchase it in the quarter-sawn form.

 There is a page in our blog that discusses the process of staining oak, including which stains work best on oak wood and how to adjust the shade of the stain depending on whether you want it darker or lighter.

Chestnut

 Because it has a consistent hue throughout, chestnut wood is one of the best types of natural wood for staining. 

It has a rich medium brown hue that becomes even darker when subjected to UV rays and moisture in the air.

 This wood is stunning, whether left in its natural state or stained with a shade of brown or gray of your choosing. In a nutshell, it’s the ideal wood for getting a grey stain.

Hickory

Woodworkers love hickory because of its longevity and strength, making it a desirable wood species to work with. 

Since the early 1800s, it has been utilized not only for flooring but also for wood furniture!

It will be easy to use as soon as you get the hang of it. Hickory is a wood that takes stains well. But remember to give it a thorough sanding.

Ash

 When it comes to staining wood, ashwood is consistently ranked as one of the most popular options. 

However, when shopping for ash wood flooring or a piece of wood furniture made of ash wood, there are a few things to remember, even though this type of wood has an attractive wood grain and is compatible with any color of the stain.

Like oakwood, ash wood contains pores capable of absorbing a significant amount of wood stain. 

Therefore, oak wood is typically a better choice than Ashwood if you want to avoid dark wood flooring stains or furniture items that look too heavy and outdated. 

Oak wood can also be stained lighter.

When it comes to staining ash wood, the appearance of the wood after it has been dried should also be considered. 

As a result, you’ll wind up with wood flooring that appears garishly brilliant and out of place at times.

 Be careful to wait until your ashwood furniture has had sufficient time to cure entirely after you have stained it before re-hanging doors or placing anything on top of the wood surface. 

This will prevent the surface from seeming too shiny.

In addition, hickory is an excellent candidate for staining after being adequately sanded. But that is the critical point. Sanding it thoroughly is a need. 

Sanding lightly with sandpaper that has a coarse grain is the best way to begin opening up the pores; we recommend beginning with 100-grit paper.

Different kinds of stains for wood

Now that you understand what wood stains are, let’s look at the many kinds available. 

Many types of best stain are available for wood, and each has a unique set of benefits and drawbacks.

The following is a list of the most often-seen types:

 Oil Based Stain

 These oil stain are the ones that have been around the longest and tend to go quite deep into the wood grain. 

In addition, provided that the floor is initially sealed, they are suitable for softwood and hardwood surfaces. 

However, they tend to be yellow, so you must ensure that yellow is your desired impact.

 Water Based Stain

 These are simple to use, and the cleanup is as simple as soap and water, but the color can only be partially set for several days or weeks. 

In addition, there will likely be some deepening of the hue after pine oil is added to them to speed up the drying process.

 Gel stain

 Because it seeps more into the wood than other types of stain, gel stain is ideal for use on dense woods like oak, maple, or cherry. 

In addition to this, the color that it produces is more uniform than that of water-based stains.

Stain for Lacquered Wood

 Lacquer wood staining is the most common sort of project undertaken by professionals.

There are several reasons for this, including that lacquer stains are long-lasting and can be obtained in virtually any color imaginable.

Lacquers give the end product an extremely smooth appearance while also delivering a high level of concealing power with each layer applied.

A Dye That Is Soluble in Water

 People who want to add color and variety to their woodworking projects may consider using a water-soluble dye stain. This is a beautiful alternative.

These stains have a high percentage of dyes in their formulation, which enables them to easily permeate the surface of your project without leaving any blotches or streaks behind. 

Because the removal of these kinds of stains does not require any specialized tools.

 Stain with Metalized Dye

 The terms “non-grain raising stains,” “metallic stains,” and “acid staining” can all be used to refer to the same thing: metalized dye stains.

The colors created by these kinds of wood stains result from a chemical interaction between metallic salts in lacquer thinner or water-based finish coats and acidic dyes incorporated into the wood surface. 

This reaction creates the colors that are produced by the wood stains. True oil-based aniline dye stains, and these stains should not be mistaken in any way.

Stain and Varnish for Wood

 When it comes to protecting a job you have just done, varnish wood stain is an excellent option. 

Because it is so simple to apply and dries so rapidly, only one application is enough to give the impression that the item has been newly oiled.

Three different sheen levels are available for varnish wood stain: gloss, semi-gloss, and satin. The quantity of sanding done between applications determines the level of gloss achieved.

Varnish can be colored with oil dye or water-based pigment dyes if you need to change the color of your project. You can also tint varnish with food coloring.

How to Determine Which Wood Stain Is Right for You

Do you find it challenging to choose the right stain for the wood you want to stain? 

Are you unsure as to whether or not the hue will work well with the décor that you have? 

Choosing the correct stain the first time is essential, so you don’t have to remove it and start over.

 Check out our tutorial on how to decide which wood stain is best for your project, and save yourself some headaches in the process.

Safety

First and foremost, always keep in mind the need to exercise caution. If you need clarification about what you are doing or how anything operates, you should get assistance from someone knowledgeable about the topic before attempting anything on your own.

Safety is another factor that should be considered when selecting a wood stain because some stains contain chemicals and gases that are hazardous to your health.

Exposure to these chemicals for an extended period may induce adverse consequences such as breathing difficulties, skin irritation, rashes, and even respiratory failure in extreme circumstances.

Because of this, it is essential to have a clear understanding of what to expect before attempting something new!

Your Preferred Colors

It would help if you had some idea of which color stain will look best on your wood. It is much simpler to try out a variety of colors by first experimenting with stains that are either water- or oil-based. 

Then, the stain can be removed with little effort if the color does not meet your requirements.

 Oil-based stains are more expensive than latex stains, but they often stay longer and have a higher pigment concentration, enabling them to create deeper and more richly pigmented colors.

This type of stain often contains fewer toxic chemicals and isn’t as harmful to the environment or your health, making it an excellent alternative if you’re looking for something that has long-term effects.

Wood Species

Because of differences in density, porosity, and the patterns of their wood grain, various types of wood will require different stains. Because of this, some stains will work more effectively than others.

Because pine is a softer wood, for instance, oil-based stains are not encouraged for usage on it because they will not penetrate the surface as effectively, and they tend to be more challenging to wipe off!

Hardwoods, on the other hand, such as teak or mahogany, have more tightly packed grains, which means that water-based stains can penetrate deeper into the wood’s pores, resulting in a more transparent finish.

If they need to be applied more evenly, oil-based stains can also leave a yellowish hue on these types of wood; therefore, you should select the sort of stain best suited to your particular requirements.

 The Scope of the Stain

Before making the purchase, you must have a good idea of how much stain you will require. You need to consider this to save time and money because the stain will not cover enough wood. You must consider this to save your time and money.

 One gallon of stain is required for every 400 square feet of surface area to achieve the desired level of coverage. 

This includes indoor and outdoor spaces, but remember to consider your deck or fence because it may require numerous coats of stain to protect the wood from the elements.

Format of the finish

If you’re going for a more opulent aesthetic, you may choose an opaque stain over a transparent layer, giving your surface a glassy aspect.

It is possible to hide the majority of stains with the majority of finishes; nevertheless, polyurethane varnish cannot be used on specific stains.

If you want to utilize an attractive and long-lasting polyurethane finish, you should look for a stain that is compatible with polyurethane.

If you cannot find an appropriate stain, you will be required to apply a clear penetrative resin sealer on top of an incompatible stain. 

You can apply varnish on top of this sealer if you want the result to have a glossy appearance.

Testing

Before applying stain to the entirety of your wood’s surface, you must first perform a test on a tiny section of the material.

 This will provide you the ability to ensure that it is compatible with the stain and that the color is matched correctly without spending excessive time or money!

You can get a better idea of what your wood will look like after it has been stained if you paint different forms because they are more pliable and more straightforward to work with than other types of wood. In addition, putting paint on different types of wood may be more accessible.

FAQ on Best Wood For Staining

Which type of wood takes a dark stain the best?

Which kinds of wood are most suitable for using a dark stain? Cabinets for kitchens can be fashioned from a wide variety of different kinds of wood. Cherry, hard maple, and red oak are three of the darker wood colors that are frequently selected by our customers. Our attention is going to be focused on these three.

When it comes to staining, which is better: hardwood or softwood?

Because the cellular structure of hardwoods is significantly more dense than that of softwoods, it is much more difficult for liquid stain to permeate the wood. Sanding the wood before applying stain will help increase the amount of stain that is absorbed into the wood; but, if you do not sand the wood first, the wood may not absorb the stain very well.

What kind of wood stain is the most user-friendly?

Those That Are Oil-Based

When most people think of wood stain, they picture an oil-based interior stain being used on the wood. They are not only easily accessible but also simple to put to use. In most cases, they are formulated with a binder made of linseed oil, which provides a large amount of time for removing any extra stain before it sets.

Can Pine Be Stained Successfully?

Because pine has a naturally light color, it is simple to alter its appearance by staining it with one of our products. Before applying the stain, ensure that the pine has been properly prepared by carefully following the guidelines that were just provided. After that, the pine is stained in the exact same way that any other kind of wood would be treated using Wood Stain.

Which kind of wood cannot be stained?

There are a few exotic woods, such teak and rosewood, that have a high oil concentration due to their inherent composition. Because there is already so much oil in the wood, oil-based chemicals like wood stain and polyurethane are typically not accepted by them. This is due to the fact that these materials do not absorb correctly due to the presence of so much oil in the wood.