SamaN Interior Water Based Wood Stain - Natural Stain for Furniture, Moldings, Wood Paneling,Cabinets (Mahogany TEW-105-12, 12 oz)

Color - Antique Walnut. Excellent stain - easy to work with. The box I am staining is made of scrap wood with an uneven pattern. In some areas the wood is much darker and has a red hue. I suspect parts of it might be made of entirely different kind of wood. So I was concerned it would come out "striped & spotted". Used Minwax pre-stain to minimize the blotching effect and surely it helped a lot. But it also accentuated the unevenness in wood which was alarming. It wasn't just the color, I could see the difference in wood pattern and density as well. And all of it showed up conspicuously after the 1st coat of stain. To even it up on the second round I stained only lighter parts with a small brush, went around a few times and then let it sit overnight. The next day did the whole procedure again - stained the whole box, then touched up lighter parts. And it came out beautiful. I was lucky to pick up a lighter shade of Walnut (antique). It allowed me to put quite a few coats on without going too dark. Antique walnut color is absolutely gorgeous; it has a lot of natural gold tones in it. And I was able to build up a darker shade by applying more stain. Love the results. Cleaning the working table with a wet paper towel was a breeze, there is no odor, no fumes, and it dries rather quickly if you wipe the stained object with a dry cloth. Definitely recommend this product.

Overall quite happy with the final result. Ended up blending two different colors (Urban Gray and Castle Stone) to get the shade I wanted (see first pic). The application of the stain is pretty easy, just wiped it on with a sponge brush, but I found it was sensitive to how long I took and how thick I put it on -- so while most of it was fine on first application, I messed up a couple areas (see 2nd pic). The good thing is that it was pretty easy to fix -- I just lightly sanded away the bad area and reapplied the stain. The 3rd pic shows the final stained table surface. I coated it with polyurethane for final use (last pic) and it is working great. Note, it did get darker and browner after the poly finish (many coats) was applied but also note that picture is indoors while the others are outdoors, and the lighting makes a big difference in how it appears. So you should also test colors in the place you will put the thing you are staining.

So I haven't worked with low odor non toxic transparent stain before. Varathane Kona is usually my go-to color. However after staining some stair treads with it in the gel form (hadn't realized it was oil based) the stairs stunk for about 6 weeks. Kona also is not very transparent if at all on the gel form.That led me to try this product. Completely different color than Kona but so much more depth of color. It was a bit of a learning curve.The ikea moppe drawers I turned into a nightstand were done first with a foam roller (wouldn't recommend) though I don't hate how it came out. The shelf was done afterwards. It's an Ivar shelf from ikea and I believe it's pine.I have a fine mister bottle that I sprayed into the cup of stain to water it down further and I would also wet the rag and the wood slightly so that it didn't absorb right away. It has a lot of play time before drying and I really like how if one area is too concentrated you can mist some water on it and it disperses almost like watercolor in the tube. You can also do this if it dries too pigmented as well to reactivate and work in into other areas which I really appreciate. I plan to layer distressed paint effects over the the stained pieces and then seal it using General Finishes Flat. I transferred my stain to a fifo squeeze bottle and even found squeezing it directly onto the wood and then misting it and wiping it in with a wet rag to be even faster. It's very easy to clean and a little goes a long way.I can understand the people who say this isn't easy to work with. It doesn't act like traditional stain. It only became easy once I watered it down and used a rag. Using the roller initially it acted more like paint. It is initially a black color until it is fully absorbed.Would recommend for those who want a low odor non toxic transparent stain that is easy to clean up and forgiving to work with.Note: The shelf was done in the clay color, however the side posts that have a warm brown mixed in is a layer of Dark and dDecrepit stain from Debs DIY Paint that's layered over it. The clay stain has a gorgeous purple hue to it. Will definitely repurchase and would like to try some of the other colors like olive, dark walnut, and castle stone.Thank you for coming to my tedtalk...

I had to return a few colors because they were much darker than they appeared on the website. Once I got my colors down, they were perfect. I love how easy they were to work with on the wood. Very happy with the stain.

I've used the colonial and white-wash stains now, and they're both great. Especially enjoying the white-wash as a nautical style. Beautiful over raw wood.