Anyone try this brand of stain?Im staining,well trying to stain a set of new unfinished kitchen cabinets.The guy at Ace talked me into choosing Zar over Minwax and now im not sure if this was a bad call.Cabinets are red oak,nothing fancy.The stain in pic came out nicely whitish on a tester board of pine paneling.my problem is after 3 coats my cabinets arent getting much whiter.im just seeing more of the wood grain.does this stain suck?is it the wood?do i just need more applications?
It won't make the wood whiter no matter how many coats you use. It's actually making the wood grain darker. The same stain on a different wood type will show a completely different shade and color.
To get wood lighter in tone the general methods are either Bleaching or Pickling
These techniques are NOT stains
They require a different set of products unlikely to be at a BIGBOX store
Try Woodcraft or Rockler
>>950888
We have Woodcraft here but is it too late since ive already applied this to half the cabinet units?were not unhappy with the results so far its just...different from what we expected.the cabinets still look nice with our counter tops so idk if a ton of effort is really necessary if those lightening techniques would add days to the process.we have a lot more to get to by our move in date.
>>951073
If you are not happy about the finish now you should stop what you're doing. You'll only make it worse. Pine is such a bitch to stain right.
You're probably going to have to sand it back down and start over with a method like anon about mentioned because stains don't make things lighter.
Your tester board, was it the same pine that your cabinets are? I mean are you sure your cabinets are pine. Different woods take stains way differently. Your cabinets should have turned out just like your tester.
>>951116
Op states that his cabinets are red oak.
No idea why he is using a different wood to test his stain.
OP, if you like them as is, just stick with it. Making wood lighter is a pain in the ass.
![oh-my-god-what-have-you-done[1].jpg](https://i.imgur.com/7iyx5gZ.jpg "oh-my-god-what-have-you-done[1].jpg")
>>951118
> Op states that his cabinets are red oak.
Oh lord, OP what have you done? Can you post pics of it currently?
>>951142
>Oh lord, OP what have you done?
Most likely bought the cheapest in stock cabinets at any home improvement store.
OP here.first,thx for all the replies.Ok so i tested on pine because i didnt have anything equivalent to the cabinet wood,red oak,handy and i was more interested in seeing how easy this particular brand of stain was to work with.again,ive never used it and the hardware store dude had a lot to say about it including that it can be applied to vinyl and plastic.so heres the pic of whats going on so far.the shades definitely different but not at all what i expected.this is supposed to be a tinted(?) stain with a very white finish appearance.maybe i shld show a pic of test board idk...desu im not sure the current look is bad at all.our floors are going to be Pergo Driftwood which is ash grey or almost white in color.i really just want the red to tone down.alternatively,if theres a simple way to actually get these cabs to be white with a stain id still go that route.also,apologies but yes these are pleb home depot cabinets.when i have a bigger budget for a house ill have a bigger budget to build a kitchen.
>>951293
Op again.sry bout the sideways pics...idk wth is going on.ive not had this problem before.
Fixed for your viewing pleasure
After rereading thread id like to clarify that my goal here isnt necessarily to make the cabinets lighter...its to make the cabinets whiter.again thx for the replies and suggestions.
>>951296
I had bought 3 different kinds of paint stripper that were all worthless. Went to my local hardware store and he sold me some ZAR stripper and it was a game changer. I think the big box stores promote lots of brands that are safer but don't work that well. My experience with ZAR was amazing.
I have never used their stain but it looks like you are trying to stain to a lighter shade than the wood which is more challenging than going darker. I think that would be the main problem. Its also very rare to stain anything and have it come out looking like the can. So many variables.
Actually after looking at the picture of your wood closely I'm surprised you they are that close. I've had miniwax look much further off.
>>951304
Thx.at least i now have a second opinion on zar products.i think whats getting to me here is that before i bought this stain i looked at a sample panel of these minwax stains in a variety of unnatural colors.i sorta expected this stuff to have the same effect where it would be white like paint but with pronounced grain like a traditional stain.i have never used a stain that was wasnt "wood" colored before so perhaps my expectations are just way off base.
>>951308
Heh..im not sure if that makes me regret not getting the white minwax.i actually tried but the unhelpful girl at homie wouldnt mix it for us so we went to our local hardware store the next day and ended up with the Zar.
>>951311
In that case just go buy the small jar of minwax and see what it looks like on the back of a cabinet. Then try combining the two. I'm unfamiliar with that color but all you can do is try it.
>>951323
Good call.cldnt hurt to see how it looks.
