Minwax 308024444 Express Color™ Wiping Stain & Finish, Pecan, 6 ounce

Like all Minwax products, Express Color Wiping Stain provides an easy, effective way to stain or color wood. But forget the instructions on the tube. After shaking well, REMOVE THE TOP COMPLETELY by unscrewing it. Don't even bother to try and squeeze the stain out... you'll end up making a mess. Slowly tilt the tube, placing a small amount on a clean soft rag. If you apply it directly to the wood you run the risk of creating a dark stain, depending on how quickly you begin to wipe and how porous the wood may be. Apply the stain to a rag and wipe on, spreading it out evenly. It does dry quickly, an hour or so to the touch, three to five hours for a second coat, overnight before using a clear coat or putting it into service. Cleanup is easy with hot water and dish soap. Finally, if you plan to wash the rag after use, be sure to wash it with other non-critical rags. Any color remaining in the rag can bleed into your other items in the wash.

This stain is different from regular stain as it is very thick. It works great on flat surfaces, but doesn't flow into carved areas as well as one of MinWax's regular stains. That's the bad. Here's the good news. It thins with denatured alcohol just like shellac. So if it gets a bit too dark on flat surfaces because you had to work it into the low spots, run a brush or rag with denatured alcohol over it to lighten it up. Shellac will lighten it as well because of the alcohol content.

I'm in the process of making some small jewelry boxes and have been using the various Minwax stains for them. Overall I love the colors and ease of application. The instructions on this one tell you to squeeze some stain onto the project and using a cloth, spread the color around. On a large project, it would work beautifully, as you have some space to squeeze the stain out. On a small project, I ended up squeezing the stain onto the drop cloth and using a brush. That being said, I love the color and overall look of the stain. The clean up is a joy (gotta love waterbased stains!). I believe this specific stain also has a wax finish built in. I'm planning on putting polyurethane over it (again, the Minwax waterbased...awesome stuff), but just looking at the project this morning, there is a smidge of a sheen. Great product if a little tricky to apply!

Perfect and holding up nicely in the outdoors

The green is INCREDIBLY gorgeous! Several layers and lots of sanding produced perfection! The tubes go a long way too!

Loved this product, I was looking for a green stain for my dresser and I came across this one, I saw many reviews stated it was more like paint rather than a stain but I took my chances, especially cause I figured a fully coated green dresser would look better than a stained one. And I was right and couldnt be happier, it turned out exactly what I was aiming for and more. I used a sponge on the first coat and a brush for the next three, for the brush layed down more paint than the sponge. I waited about 8 hrs to paint the second coat because the first coat was so thin, and 24 hrs between the 3rd and 4th coat. I didnt add a top coat just because the the paint itself gave it a satin finish and that is what I wanted. It was my first time ever doing this kind of project and it was easier than expected. It's easy to work with, but you do have to work fast for it dries to the touch very fast and if not careful it will clump up and become very thick amd messy.

Initially, I was very excited about this product because of the beautiful color that the ad indicated that could be achieved. However, in my experience, this product was very very messy to apply, when using even the tiniest amount. I was not able to attain a color anything like shown in the ad. This product messed up my project, and I had to sand again and still have not resolved the problem of color. I am sorry to say that I cannot recommend this product.

I've bought several tubes of Minwax water based express color wiping stain. I first used it on some bookcases we built. It was very easy to use and the color (the green stain) is beautiful. Very deep and rich. I did something unorthodox with the indigo stain. I wanted to stain some chairs and I wanted a blue stain. Just exactly the color of this indigo stain but it was indoor only. (The chairs were for outdoor use) I said what the heck. I was going to use outdoor varathane on them, so I figured they would be protected. So if the color would fade, I was OK with that. It hasn't faded so far. We also put up a gate we made with port orford cedar and I used the indigo stain on it. Looks beautiful. I also used four coats of outdoor varathane on the gate and fence we're putting up. It's a kind of art project. If you are someone who always follows the rules on packages, this wouldn't be for you. But this stuff goes on so easily (I used a spong brush) and a towel to wipe off the excess) and the result is terrific.