Will Gel Stain Work On Laminate Furniture

Apply first coat of stain to laminate furniture.

Will gel stain work on laminate furniture.

Many ask if the gels can be used on laminate or plastic non wood surfaces. I love two tone mcm furniture. Though how to paint and stain laminate was not one i considered. Don t get overzealous and start soaking your laminate with the stain.

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. 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. It matches the general finishes java gel stain and will cover in two coats. Sanding down to raw wood would be the very best practice but the following is the most common prep it only takes a few minutes first.

You could choose to use minwax polyshades to stain laminate or a similar brand. It does stick to some and not to others. The gel stain is thick like pudding not a liquid. 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.

Yes i said bedroom suite. If it looks like a gloopy mess that. I decided to stain the drawers and paint the body to match the dresser in my room. Yes it was perfect for a 12 year old girl s bedroom.

You can apply gel stain to mdf stained surfaces and most painted surfaces including milk paint chalk paint and latex paint. To preserve the look of the wood grain on laminated furniture try using a tinted polyurethane stain. 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. Laminate is very smooth and shiny so you must sand or the paint and the gel stain won t stick.

If it comes off easily then it s not sticking so don t use it. To improve adherence of the stain mix 2 parts gel stain with one part gel satin topcoat. See below forgive the oil stained garage. To test apply gel stain let dry for 48 hours and then try to scratch it off.

Gel stain will not require you to sand the product to a raw wood finish. Simply dip the rag lightly into the stain mixture and then squeeze out any excess drips. My bedroom suite was currently white and wood laminate. Clean your project with a scotch brite pad and a 50 50 mix of denatured alcohol and water.

You want your cloth rag to be damp with stain but not wet. This is where you want to proceed with caution. Open your can of gel stain. Prep work before using gel stain on furniture stop.

Before you do anything take a before pic. With the oak cabinets the grain was very evident post staining. General finishes gel stain on knotty pine. To fix sand the table lightly with 120 grit sandpaper and restain the table.

It was the furniture kept in my childhood bedroom since i was 12.