Eliminating Pesky Stain Cans

I’ve always been troubled with keeping the lids and lid channel clean and have lost more stain to drying out than I can count.

I found these waterproof containers at a Dollar General for $2.50 each. A quart of stain fits perfectly and they stack well. In the 6 months I’ve been using them, no stain has dried out, nor has the lid been a problem.

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Great idea, and thanks for the tip!

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Small followup but I was turned onto General Finishes brand of water based dye stains and they go on amazingly even and come in both natural wood and more dramatic colors. This photo is 4(!) coats of the yellow can and one of the GF finishes, on poplar which is notoriously tough to stain evenly.

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I exclusively use General and find I can avoid blotchiness without having to use a pre-stain in most cases. Try their dye stains sometime if you haven’t already. As a sidenote, I like those squeeze ketchup bottles for storing stains https://www.amazon.com/Condiment-16-Ounce-Condiments-Dressing-Workshop/dp/B01HAWNA5M/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1517003763&sr=8-3&keywords=squeeze+bottles+for+sauces. When I sprayed finishes, I would transfer the topcoats to the laundry detergent bottles that have a push button spigot. I could fill the spray cup/jar very easily. But I don’t have a spray setup any more.

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I’m using General Finishes right now on Alder, but I do have to use a pre-stain conditioner to avoid blotches. Not an issue, but just for awareness and your mileage may vary.

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Thanks, EvanDay. Glad you found it helpful.

I usually work in Cherry and I lightly spray a coat of CrystaLac on both sides of the project. This lets me control the depth of color. I scuff sand with 320 and may re-stain with a lighter or darker color to get desired highlights.
Then (usually) finish of with two top-coats of CrystaLac.

I exclusively use General stains; mostly their non-dye stains, but have used the dyes on various projects. Great stuff!

I like the detergent bottle idea…will have to try that.

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