Mixing Stain & Polyurethane? What Happened?

What happens if you mix oil based stain with oil based polyurethane? Do you get your own version of polyshades? Is it any good? Does it save a step?

[jesus.maryandjoseph]

Thanks for the video. The poly-stain combo works well when applying over an existing stained wood piece. Otherwise, you would have to strip the entire piece. The product tends to apply more like a thin paint, which can give a good effect, depending upon what colour you are applying over an existing stain. 🙂

[surelywoo]

Exactly the question I wanted answered. Thank you.

[walwilliams]

Sir, I am SO-grateful for this clever, concise tutorial. GOSH! You answered EXACTLY the questions I had.

[lilbigjhay]

I just refinished a table top. After putting polyurethane on and letting it dry, I was not happy with how light my stain was. So I am going to make my own Poly Shade by mixing a Provincial stain with polyurethane to get the color I want. The Poly Shades do not have the ready made color I wanted, so am very happy to see that I can mix my own.

[leesol]

I build furniture. As hard as I try, I don't always get all the glue off. Wood glue doesn't except stain. Mixing the poly and stain allows you to touch up the glue spots. I stain the piece normally then apply the touchup poly/stain. When dry I finish the whole project with poly.

[RRT-ddgw]

Thank you for the video. I am planning to repair a door that has a hole from a door stop. There were no close matches in the filler and it doesn’t stain well. I am going to try the mix over the dime size wood filler and think it will help it blend. It’s great to know they can be mixed for alternative projects. Thanks again!!

[hectorvalencia]

I'm Subcontractor Painter the Best way to go is Prep, sand it apply, the secret of each painter, wish every each painter used a diferent material them apply the Stain Let it dry for 24 hours and apply 2 coats of poly. I always recommend poly oil 👌

[Sage]

I actually used the mixed technique with part of a project that I couldn't get to take up stain as well as the surrounding area. I don't know if the grain was particularly dense or that the pores were already saturated, but it wouldn't sand out. It worked like a charm to blend in the troubled spot since I was using the same exact stain and polyurethane to finish the rest of it. I can imagine it's possible to end up with a horror show when you're not using the exact same product everywhere else though.

[customz]

Ill have to give this a try, ive been using the premix poly and stain because The flooring ive been using has rough side cuts which I use filler. Thw issue with filler is that basic stain is absorbed more in the filler than the wood. Using the premix in my reno saves me TONS of time. The poly/stain dries in one solid layer and If I take my time and make a thin layer the filler just appears to be a grain in the wood. Also areas that I used adhesive that wouldnt otherwise absorb stain, I just stain right over it. Theme of the house is rustic and so far so good. But needless to say, I ran out of my premix so I was looking into mixing my own to finish the floors

[AugNoe]

Good info. I'll be using this method on some storage shelves in a basement and garage, and it's a good fit. Just want the minimum effort to get a stained finish and seal against moisture.

[brockreynolds]

The stain and poly mix can serve two purposes... it can darken an existing piece you have stained, where the wood won't absorb enough to get the desired color... and if there is a little bit of blotchiness, instead of stripping the whole thing and starting over, it can help even that out with one simple topcoat.

[jdibo]

It’s a good way of applying a second coat of stain Incase your first coat doesn’t cover the way you’d like or Incase you can’t get a Corner on your room floors for whatever reason. It has its own use cases for sure

[gablebt]

The only reason I can think of is why I'm researching this...darken up an existing PU sealed surface. 2 years ago, I stained a redwood fence, and layered on 3 layers of poly after the stain. It's held up pretty good for in the California sun, but it's time for a clean and another coat of poly. BUT, while it looks good, it's a little too light in terms of color shade compared to other wood around the house. When I did the original job, I should have use 2 coats of stain. So now, I want to slightly darken AND reseal right on top of the existing poly. There are some spots where the the wood is showing from weathering, and gray. So, my plan is to light sand the fence without messing the finish. Then, thin out some stain with mineral spirits, and use a rag to touch up the gray spots and bring some color back. After, do a 75 poly / 25 stain mix and apply on the whole fence to darken it up. then one more 100% poly to finish. My only hesitation is apply pure stain on top of what is mostly poly right now, save for the gray spots. Let me know if you think I'm crazy here. Thanks!!

[stcontact]

Well, my dilemma I built a stereo cabinet some years back and thewood was an aged pine . So when polyurethane it, it dried with a golden finish to it. Well I wanted to add a couple of more shelves to the center of the existing cabinet and without even thinking about it, I bought more of the same size wood without matching the colors and urethane them only to my surprise, the wood was not aged but new cut and the tint was off. My thoughts, always bring a sample to the lumber yard so you can match the color. New growth cut wood is much different than aged.

[Kevin_Phu]

Did you buff with 0000 pad between layers? Curious if that would improve it. One benefit i see to this method would be the elimination of oily waste rags. Also curious what the result would be with wipe on. Great video! Love experiments!

[shawnkarvonen]

Here's my reason my piece of wood is not getting darker with several coats of stain and if you lay the stain on too thick it doesn't dry and you have issues putting the Polly on I'm going to try mixing them

[davidschlarp]

You can save several days considering it takes 24 hours between coats of poly

[davidshaper]

The mixtures try to do two things, and don't due either well. Stain is intended to soak into the wood. Poly is a topcoat.

[stevendiamond]

I searched the question about mixing polyurethane with stain. I did this because I was going to try to use it on a laminate to see if it would take to the laminate. So if it works that's the use for it rather than just being lazy

[michaelmarchione]

A HUGE Thumps Up for an interesting experiment. Every store will have Snake Oil on the shelf hoping someone will try it. Enjoyed!