Will Gel Stain Work On Laminate Furniture

If you are wanting to apply gel stain over a painted furniture piece you will use the same process as below for applying gel stain over stain.

Will gel stain work on laminate furniture.

Gel stain will not require you to sand the product to a raw wood finish. Gel stains occasionally work on laminate as this type of stain doesn t need to penetrate the material as deeply as traditional stain but gel stain manufacturers typically advise against it. Before you do anything take a before pic. Simply dip the rag lightly into the stain mixture and then squeeze out any excess drips.

To fix sand the table lightly with 120 grit sandpaper and restain the table. You want your cloth rag to be damp with stain but not wet. While gel stain does go on thick and sit on the surface of the wood i found that you can still see and feel the natural wood grain beneath unlike paint. Prep work before using gel stain on furniture stop.

If you need some ideas on what shade of stain click here. The gel stain is thick like pudding not a liquid. It matches the general finishes java gel stain and will cover in two coats. Apply as many coats of the mix as needed to obtain the desired color allowing 24 hour dry time between coats.

This is where you want to proceed with caution. With the oak cabinets the grain was very evident post staining. If it comes off easily then it s not sticking so don t use it. Laminate is very smooth and shiny so you must sand or the paint and the gel stain won t stick.

Don t get overzealous and start soaking your laminate with the stain. To improve adherence of the stain mix 2 parts gel stain with one part gel satin topcoat. You can apply gel stain to mdf stained surfaces and most painted surfaces including milk paint chalk paint and latex paint. Apply first coat of stain to laminate furniture.

It does stick to some and not to others. My bedroom suite was currently white and wood laminate. Fortunately for those with laminate cabinets gel stain works well on a variety of surfaces other than real wood allowing you to stain your cabinets without leaving them a streaky splotchy mess. Lightly sand the laminate with 150 grit sandpaper.

Yes it was perfect for a 12 year old girl s bedroom. Clean your project with a scotch brite pad and a 50 50 mix of denatured alcohol and water. Many ask if the gels can be used on laminate or plastic non wood surfaces. Though how to paint and stain laminate was not one i considered.

To test apply gel stain let dry for 48 hours and then try to scratch it off. You could choose to use minwax polyshades to stain laminate or a similar brand. I love two tone mcm furniture. It was the furniture kept in my childhood bedroom since i was 12.

I decided to stain the drawers and paint the body to match the dresser in my room. See below forgive the oil stained garage. If it looks like a gloopy mess that. Yes i said bedroom suite.

Open your can of gel stain.