Trouble Applying Alcohol-Based Stain- Question of the Week

January 23, 2007 | Filed Under Blog, Question of the Week 

This week’s question comes from Bill. He writes, “I’m building some extra cabinets that match the kitchen cabinets that I installed last year. I ordered extra stain, so that everything would match. The stain would appear to be a dye in an denatured alcohol solution. How would you apply this stain? I’ve been applying a the shellac sanding sealer by zinser, but the dye mixture has a tendency to pull up the shellac. As long as I keep a wet edge it works (example baseboards), but it isn’t working very well on large panels.”

And here was my reply, “An alcohol based dye is actually best applied by spraying, but that may not be an option if you dont have a spray setup. The problem is that the alcohol evaporates too quickly and you dont have enough time to even out the color. And to further complicate the problem, your alcohol based dye mix is redissolving your sanding sealer. If you cant find a way to spray, I would recommend getting a little creative.”

“First, I assume you are using Zinsser SealCoat? Or are you actually using a true sanding sealer? If its sanding sealer, I say skip it. Get yourself the Zinsser SealCoat. SealCoat is a dewaxed shellac and will be a great sealer. Now instead of applying the sealer and having your dye mix mess everything up later, I would recommend adding some shellac to a portion of your dye. Since the dye is pretty much all alcohol, it will dilute out the shellac. I would say fill a container halfway with your dye, and fill it the rest of the way with the Sealcoat. This will give you a solution that is dilute enough that you should have time to apply it evenly. Consider using a brush. When the alcohol evaporates, you will be left with a sealed surface that contains some of your color. But since you diluted the color, it might not be intense enough. If thats the case, just sand lightly and apply another coat. Keep in mind with shellac, you need to move quickly and only do one or two strokes. Any more, and it becomes smeary.”

“Now this method isn’t perfect, but it should give you alot more control. Make sure your try this on an inconspicuous area first. If the color is too intense, then apply a diluted coat of the Sealcoat alone first, sand, and follow up with a coat or two of the mix I described earlier. Good luck!”

Comments

One Response to “Trouble Applying Alcohol-Based Stain- Question of the Week”

  1. Greg C on February 6th, 2007 5:59 am

    I have been using Homestead TransTint liquid dye diluted in alcohol along with seal coat for a while now. I have even been able to duplicate my results at a later date with great success. My best results have come from applying the stain first and following that with the seal coat. I also use General Finishes wipe on gel Urethane as a final step. I have found this combination to be as close to foolproof as possible for outstanding results.

    I enjoy watching your videos and hope you keep it up.

    Greg

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