America's Leading Manufacturer of Innovative Water-Based Wood Finishes
It's a wrap! General Finishes next round of tutorial videos are on their way! We will be releasing one per week for the month of November so stay tuned.
While Gel Stain can be applied over an existing finish, it was originally engineered for raw wood surfaces. We prefer applying the Gel Stain over a slip coat of mineral spirits instead of topcoat as shown in this video, "How to Apply Gel Stain to Raw Wood"
In our newest video Chris Adams and Tom Monohan of General Finishes demonstrate how to update your existing cabinets with GF Water Based Wood Stain and Dye Stain with a technique called toning. Toning does not require any messy stripping or sanding.
Possibly but not recommended - the high gloss is an issue.
Folks have successfully put Gel Stain on more surfaces than we ever dreamed of including fiber glass but if you want to proceed, TEST your procedure on the inside of a door first, let the door cure for 14 days. Then further test the finish by duplicating normal wear and tear: washing, scrubbing, scratching, etc to see if the finish bonds to the surface. It might not adhere.
It is normal to see a bit of stain on the brush when applying the first coat of topcoat. Topcoats often pull a bit of color on the first pass, but good preparation will minimize this.
To prepare open grains woods such as raw Oak for a water-based stain, we recommend sanding with 180-grit followed by no more than 220-grit sandpaper.
Yes! But you must follow a few simple rules to be sure you achieve the best possible finish.
GF advises extra care and prep when applying any finish over laminate surfaces because they are specifically designed not to mar and therefore they are not very "sand-able", making adherence difficult.
In addition to this non-permeable surface factor, General Finishes Gel Stain is an oil-based product, and it is more difficult to obtain proper drying characteristics over a dense manufactured surface such as laminate. Gel stains, as all wood stains, were formulated to go over raw wood which has an "open" surface and can absorb some of the stain.
Gel Stain from General Finishes is home of the popular Java Gel Stain featured across the nation's social media for upcycling furniture and cabinets.
Enduro Water-Based Conversion Varnish
Enduro Water-Based Tintable 2K White Poly
Enduro Water-Based Pro Series White Polyurethane
Enduro Water-Based Tintable 2K Clear Poly
Hard Wax Oil & Hardener
Gel Stains
Water-Based Wood Stain
Pro Image Flooring Topcoat
Jen Poly Brushes
Stir Stix
Ultraflex Softback Sanding Sponge
SDS: FRENCH Gel Stain AMERICAN OAK Oil-Base 2023-10
