Simple Wood Stain Without The Odor
Supplies List
Latex or Acrylic Paints (Browns, Grays, and/or Blacks)
Paintbrush
Rag or Paper Towel
Water
Clear Spray Top Coat (optional)
Affiliate links are included within this post for your convenience and a video tutorial is also posted below for additional help when creating this paint and water stain finish.
Step One
Be sure to sand any wood surfaces that you want to have a smooth, even finish once stained.
Test your color mixtures on a part of the wood that will not be seen to get the coloring you would like.
Mix small amounts of water into your paint mixture until you like the consistency. If you want the paint to have a more opaque finish, use more paint. If you want the wood grain to show through more, use more water. The trick is to make the color what you want and then add water in small amounts until the finish is as transparent as you want it to be.
Step Two
Paint the ‘stain’ mixture onto the wood. Work quickly when applying so the stain does not fully dry. If the stain dries completely in one spot, it may leave lines where you add more. It is best to cover the wood generously and then wipe off the excess. Once dry, you can re-apply more ‘stain’ to cover the wood grain and darken it. If you have something that you want to ‘stain’ that you don’t want to mess up, play around with the colors and the consistency on scrap wood until you feel comfortable with the process.
Step Three
Finish by spraying a clear coat over the finish or leave it as is. Usually when we are applying this type of stain to wood, we are doing it as a base coat to then apply some sort of white wash technique over top and in that case, we do not add a clear coat to it in between steps.
And that’s it! This is a great alternative to many woods stains because it dries much more quickly and does not have the odor and mess that traditional stains do!
We would love to see what you have been working on! Feel free to send us your faux stained wood photos on any of our social media platforms.