Unpopular opinion: gel stain is way overrated for dark wood pieces.

I stripped an old oak dresser from the 70s last month and tried gel stain on half of it, but the other half with a traditional oil stain looked richer and more natural after just one coat, has anyone else noticed this difference?

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3 Comments

adam6755mo ago

Yeah nah, you're right. Gel stain is fine for vertical stuff but it sits on top of the wood grain instead of soaking in. Oil stain just looks way more natural on oak.

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evan2953mo ago

@graym49 nailed it, 100% agree with adam on oil stain.

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graym495mo ago

Did you catch that video from the woodworking channel where they tested gel stain on different woods? They said the same thing pretty much, gel stain works better on pine or birch but oak just swallows oil stain and looks way better.

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