Can You Gel Stain Laminate Furniture

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.

Can you gel stain laminate furniture.

The gel will cover up the wood grain that is in the plastic while the tinted polyurethane will allow the faux grain look to show through. But you can t stain laminate is what they say. Gel stain will not require you to sand the product to a raw wood finish. A laminate stain can be a gel or tinted polyurethane.

It was the furniture kept in my childhood bedroom since i was 12. I knew there was a way. My bedroom suite was currently white and wood laminate. Faq s on how to apply gel stain over stain or paint.

This process should work with any desired stain idea. Gel stain is different from regular stain because it sits on the surface of the furniture instead on absorbing into the wood. For going super dark like creating a mocha stain you may find you ll be adding black and brown to the base. The gel stain is thick like pudding not a liquid.

Gel stains as all wood stains were formulated to go over raw wood which has an open surface and can absorb some of the stain. It is a plastic material printed with a wood grain so traditional liquid stains meant for wood can t absorb into the material. As long as the furniture surface is smooth enough you can get away without sanding. Since laminate isn t real wood and won t absorb anything it s just what you need.

Otherwise the laminate will just sit in a sticky layer on top of the laminate and be tacky each time you go to open the cabinet. Though how to paint and stain laminate was not one i considered. See below forgive the oil stained garage. Can i change the wood tone on any laminate furniture.

In addition to this non permeable surface factor general finishes gel stain is an oil based product and it is more difficult to obtain proper drying characteristics over a dense manufactured surface such as laminate. If you want to go lighter you just need to add white to the base instead of brown. Several have asked me if they can apply gel stain without sanding furniture. Gel stain is oil based and adheres really well with long term durability.

Can you gel stain without sanding. Yes it was perfect for a 12 year old girl s bedroom. With the oak cabinets the grain was very evident post staining. Gel stains occasionally work on laminate as this type of stain doesn t need to penetrate the material as deeply as traditional stain but.