Gel stain will not require you to sand the product to a raw wood finish.
Gel stain to darken cabinets.
Unlike other traditional stain gel stain sits on top of the wood rather than penetrating it hiding the previous stain color as well as some of the wood grain.
I watched youtube videos i read blogs and i realized that the results were spectacular and that very easily i could achieve this amazing dark java look.
If you ve decided to darken your cabinets lets go over the steps i suggest you follow.
Remove all the knobs and take apart any removable parts of the cabinets.
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.
You may be wondering how to use gel stain on your cabinets like i did and become overwhelmed by all the tutorials out there.
In my case it was one door and three drawers.
Apply the stain with a brush.
With the oak cabinets the grain was very evident post staining.
Tip make sure to label the location of each door or drawer so you don t forget where it came from later.
Gel stain is particularly forgiving with splotch prone woods like birch cherry maple and pine.
Updating cabinets with gel stain step 1 clean the cabinets.
The gel stain is thick like pudding not a liquid.