SamaNInterior Water Based Wood Stain - Natural Stain for Furniture, Moldings, Wood Paneling, Cabinets (Iron Earth TEW-013-12, 12 oz)

Although expensive, this was well worth the money, because it was foolproof for a first-time wood-stain DIY-er like me. I took a crummy $7 pine craft box and turned it into a beautiful ornamental piece with the Cognac stain plus 3 coats of semi-gloss Minwax Polycrylic on top.In the photos, you can see the raw pine box, followed by some swatches of the Canadian Maple (dark brown with cool undertones) and Cognac (medium brown with warm amber undertones) side-by-side on a paint stirring stick. (The Canadian Maple is on the left, Cognac on the right.) I ended up using Cognac for my project, because I didn't want to obscure the grain of the pine. As advertised, it didn't raise the grain very much. I DID sand with 400 grit sandpaper after staining, and it definitely seemed to help create a good foundation for the 3 coats of Minwax Polycrylic semi-gloss. Amazingly, the Saman + Minwax combo brought out graining that I didn't even know was hiding in there, and the end result was very pretty.The quality of this product is pretty great, especially if you are nervous about staining wood, since it cuts out the wood conditioning step and provides one-coat coverage. It dries in about an hour, and can be top-coated with something like Minwax immediately therefter. All around a great product!

My husband and I made a king-sized headboard for our bed. We bought B-Board from Home Depot, had them cut it to size, grabbed some matching trim and used the SamaN for stain.I did this paint job outside. There was barely any smell at all. After I sanded the pieces and brushed the sand dust, I used a piece of an old towel to apply the turquoise stain and another to wipe off the excess stain to reveal the grain. I was able to do one coat on each piece of wood. It dries quickly, within a minute.Once all the pieces were stained, I used SamaN white stain to whitewash the turquoise a little, again with a clean old towel to apply the stain and another to wipe the excess. You can see the result in the indoor shots, first few photos. Once again, it dried very quickly. We thought the color was too bright for our room so I came up with a solution.I applied Paine’s Grey acrylic paint color to some of the grain to have it stand out more with a craft brush (I used a round, number 2 if I remember correctly), using just a little water and wiping with yet another towel where necessary. At other points I did not wipe the grey, just applied with a brush. It took awhile. Knowing this ahead of time, I mixed the grey with a paint retarder because acrylic dries fast. After I finished the grey, I touched up a few spots by applying a teeny bit of stain here and there.Paine’s Grey is a bit transparent so it’s a good color to do highlights of the grain. I used just a little of my Liquitex brand but one could use any brand.I let the whole thing sit until the next day but it’s not necessary because the SamaN doesn’t need to cure! It goes on smooth, dries fast and looks beautiful within minutes. The fact that I used relatively cheap B-Board made it more labor-intensive applying the stain because of the occasional little splinter. Just a few spots but enough to be a pain. I would choose a more expensive wood next time that sands smoother.Please wear rubber gloves otherwise your palm will be turquoise. No worries though! I got quite a bit on one hand and it came off with warm water and soap. That’s what is great about water-based paints!My husband installed the piece using screws, 4 small L-brackets for the bottom to support the weight a bit, and tiny finishing nails for the trim with flat heads. It came out beautifully. The first two photos of the finished headboard are at night with the wall lamps on. The last photo was taken in daylight. The photos don’t do the headboard justice.This handmade headboard would be $700-800 in a store or shop. We did it for under $100 all told.Love this stain and will use it again and recommend to others.

Looking for a stain that is water based, and all the other characteristics offered for this product. I ordered Chocolate. Disappointed in several ways. First off, I would not describe this as a 'stain'. We've all used MinWax stains (among others) and they actually do 'stain' the wood but don't cover up the grain. This does. At least Chocolate does. It's more like a paint than a stain. Not what I was looking for. Dries fast so doing smaller sections is best because in order to help the stain actually do more staining than covering, one must wipe it off. This helps but by no means is it a cure. Perhaps had I chosen a lighter color I would have been satisfied but I used the chart that comes with the advertised product to get my final results. No where close. I used the coloring on Baltic Birch Plywood because it doesn't need a pretreatment. In theory it sounds good but in my experience I wouldn't recommend it based on what I experienced when using Chocolate.

I've been experimenting with various stains to try and get a dark wood effect on plywood veneer. I've tried several other brands of water based, oil based, with and without conditioners, thinned vs. not thinned etc. and each time I had issues with blotching.This Saman stain was surprisingly thick, it looked like brown paint. You use it right out of the bottle, no thinning. I applied it with a stain brush, and it went on effortlessly. No sign of blotching, brush marks, or overlapping brushstrokes leading to streaking. It was indeed odorless.As it's dried the finish lightened slightly, and the grain is nicely visible. Coverage is even, and I think it'll look great with a lacquer over the top. Cleanup of brushes with water was easy.Very impressed with this product and will be trying out some of the other colors in future.

Excellent!! Get this. Don’t think twice!!Barely any smell and it dries in like an hour.I made the terrible mistake and used verathane for my bedroom. I couldn’t be in there for over a week Bc of the smell! And even being in here now almost 2 weeks later makes me feel sick.This product is Very thick. It can really cover a lot. I was sure I was going to have to sand a lot of imperfections out of the plywood but I didn’t have to.YES PLYWOOD!!! I’ve been renting a place for a very long time and I ripped out the disgusting carpets. Stained the plywood and it looks great.I watered ours down which made it a little lighter, thinner it out and went very far.

The media could not be loaded.  Absolutely the best product ever!

Amazing quality, it was my first time ever using any typ of stain but the product kept it’s promise of not leaving any streaks and being incredibly easy to wash. Of course it might stain clothes or wall paint if it drips there but I dropped the equivalent of a cup everywhere on my floating floor and also wall being my insanely clumsy self and I washed the wall right away and it didn’t leave stains and I had even forgotten some drops on the floor and noticed an hour later and they still came out with just water. Didn’t stain my hands either, I was able to was the brushes and container in seconds. So I’m truly impressed with this product. Oh and it doesn’t smell so there’s no inconvenient doing it indoors, great plus for apartment owners.

This product was awesome and easy to use. I ordered the biggest size container and honestly didn’t have to - you only need a little to gain the affect you want! I had never used stain before and like I said it was so easy. Wipe on, wipe off. With it being water based it didn’t stain my hands (though I did put on gloves in case). It upgraded my kitchen island sooo nicely. Like - it went from ugly and blah, to decor magazine in about 25 mins. Dries fast and no harsh smell (which was a bonus because I have cats and an 8 month old baby). Loved it so much I’ll be using it on my counters next!! Highly recommend... I had no previous experience using stain and it went flawlessly. Buy it!

If you are set on using ONLY water based stains then this is a decent option. I found other brands to be of better quality and alot cheaper. You are getting a very tiny container at a hugely premium price. Performance is average for water based stains. Nothing exceptional from my experience. Way too expensive for what it offers.

This product dries quickly and is easy to apply. With reasonable care it does not leave streaks or appear uneven. It is a bit costly and must be shaken well to mix before using. Achieving different colours by mixing has to be done by trial and error as I find the suggested mixes on the colour chart do not achieve the same results.

Very hard to use. You will need to be a pro and drink 15 coffees. Maybe work on your tennis arm and laser focus. With enough skills, you will be able to trick people into thinking you've stained something with this watercolour paint. Your wax on wax off skills are critical here. I have failed and will now be sanding this stuff off or taking a loss. Or painting it black… Yes. Just add black paint to your cart just in case.