# Water based stain



## Glenmore (Sep 10, 2004)

Under the situation that I'm in on finish that I have to use due to my furnace and gas hot water heater. I've decided to finish with some water/latex wood stain. I love it did two shelves so far with it stains up evenly just have to go back once and awhile to check for some runs due to where the shelf meets the side. I like it most of all due to no real fume issues you can sit there and watch it dry. Nancy went lowes and found a can with the poly already mixed in I opened it and sniffed no fumes. Smells just like latex paint. I did also order two pints of the stuff which I have to read the can if I have to mix it seemed when I opened this one antique oak it seemed like a gel stain couldn't mix it enough to go thinner I'll have to check it out. Now I was using this on some pine it is early American stain didn't seem to raise the grain on my two test pieces one was pine the other white oak might do some raising on red oak but I didn't test it on that type of wood yet. But I'm saying this is the cats meow of stains doesn't get as tacky also as does the oil based stain. I thought that would pass this along to you if you were thinking about using water based stains.


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## Bob N (Oct 12, 2004)

Thanks for the great information Glenmore. I have not tried the water based yet, but need to give it a shot. It looks like there is a day coming in our future that this will be the only choice any of us have. Good to keep the Boss happy by keeping those fumes out of her kitchen too :nono:


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## oldnewbie (Sep 18, 2006)

This may sound stupid, but I left some water based stain in the shed over the winter. Obviously, it should have frozen and thawed. What problems will I have if I try to use it?


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## TWheels (May 26, 2006)

oldnewbie said:


> This may sound stupid, but I left some water based stain in the shed over the winter. Obviously, it should have frozen and thawed. What problems will I have if I try to use it?


Neal, I have no direct experience with your situation but I would expect that you would need to do very thorough mixing. When water solutions freeze, first the water freezes, causing whatever is mixed in to concentrate, then freeze later. When you open the cans, do not be surprised to find water at the top and everything else at the bottom. What I do not know is how "everything else" reacts to freezing. I do hope that very thorough mixing restores it.


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## BigJimAK (Mar 13, 2009)

Neal,

Formerly frozen finishes are (in my experience) iffy at best. Being water-based, yours *may* fare better although some additives designed to suspend the colorant in the solution may not work as before. I'd recommend testing it on a fair-sized piece of scrap before applying it to a final project, although I consider that a good practice on new finish too!


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## TwoSkies57 (Feb 23, 2009)

regarding water based stains, I'll just add that despite having NO experience spraying them, from all that I have read (and it is a considerable amount) they are a dream to spray. Especially with the HVLP systems. Even the entry level systems can provide a very nice finish when using wbs's.


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## levon (Sep 14, 2008)

hi Neal,

i think Jim was on the right track, but i would say any finish that has frozen, paint or stain, throw away! i had lots of experience with paints and know after freezing they almost have a soured odor. once they get to this point they are useless!


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## TWheels (May 26, 2006)

Glenmore said:


> Under the situation that I'm in on finish that I have to use due to my furnace and gas hot water heater. I've decided to finish with some water/latex wood stain. I love it did two shelves so far with it stains up evenly just have to go back once and awhile to check for some runs due to where the shelf meets the side. I like it most of all due to no real fume issues you can sit there and watch it dry. Nancy went lowes and found a can with the poly already mixed in I opened it and sniffed no fumes. Smells just like latex paint. I did also order two pints of the stuff which I have to read the can if I have to mix it seemed when I opened this one antique oak it seemed like a gel stain couldn't mix it enough to go thinner I'll have to check it out. Now I was using this on some pine it is early American stain didn't seem to raise the grain on my two test pieces one was pine the other white oak might do some raising on red oak but I didn't test it on that type of wood yet. But I'm saying this is the cats meow of stains doesn't get as tacky also as does the oil based stain. I thought that would pass this along to you if you were thinking about using water based stains.


Glenmore, it seems your original post got lost. Great thanks for the information. I had chosen to use water based finsihes for essentially the same reasons you listed. I have a situation in which the finishes must be applied outside, and the shorter drying time allows the "finished" wood to be brought in overnight so additional coats can be applied the next day, and there is no odor in the house.


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## oldnewbie (Sep 18, 2006)

I used the frozen/thawed stain on a small craft project and it worked out very well. No difference than if it were fresh. I don't know if I would try it on something that needed a professional finish (ie furniture) or had a possibility of wear factor. Just a little note to help those who were questioning as I was. Thanks everyone for your input.


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## TWheels (May 26, 2006)

oldnewbie said:


> I used the frozen/thawed stain on a small craft project and it worked out very well. No difference than if it were fresh. I don't know if I would try it on something that needed a professional finish (ie furniture) or had a possibility of wear factor. Just a little note to help those who were questioning as I was. Thanks everyone for your input.


Neal, I am curious. What was the stain like when you first opened the can? Was it as I predicted, with the water separated at least to some extent from the stain material? How much mixing was required?

I am very pleased that it still works.


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