Woodstaining Objects

GOLDEN Product List for Woodstaining Techniques:

Airbrush Medium
Airbrush Transparent Extender
High Flow Acrylics
Fluid Acrylics
Acrylic Glazing Liquid (Gloss)

Application Description

This Information Sheet outlines the GOLDEN products and process involved for staining wood. This process facilitates the use of transparent pigments and products that allow the wood grain to show through the products, as opposed to traditional uses of waterbased paints to completely cover the wood. The array of lightfast pigments used by GOLDEN allows for a variety of color blends producing beautiful stains on wooden objects ranging from traditional colors in dye based stains to stronger and more vibrant hues.

This method is possible though a series of steps, beginning with conditioning the wood, sanding, then applying the stains and finally topcoating for durability dependent upon the functional needs of the object.

Pre-stain conditioning

After properly sanding the wood, it should be conditioned to accept the waterbased stain. Conditioning evens the absorbency, resulting in a more uniform stain. Grain-raising is only done once, and although it can be accomplished with just water, water alone does not help to even out the porosity of the wood. Traditionally, conditioning is achieved with a "spit coat" of dilute shellac or lacquer, and because these products do not contain water they do not raise the grain. When using waterborne stains, it's best to accomplish conditioning and grainraising in one step.

GOLDEN Airbrush Medium or Airbrush Transparent Extender can be brushapplied or wiped on with a lint free cloth to condition the wood. Airbrush Medium dries slower (3 to 5 hours) and is therefore better for larger projects or more absorbent woods. Airbrush Transparent Extender is useful for harder woods and smaller projects because it dries at a faster pace (about 1 hour). Because these products are conditioning as well as raising the grain, it is best to not force dry these coatings. Accelerating the curing process may not allow the wood grain to fully rise, which in turn can result in stain-related problems.

Sanding

Once the prestain conditioning coating has dried, the raised wood grain needs to be sanded off. It's important to use fine sandpapers (200 grit or finer) and to not sand too aggressively because it may expose unconditioned wood. After lightly sanding, wipe the surface down with a tack cloth or lightly dampened cloth or sponge to remove sanding dust.

Staining

Premade, commercial wood stains are limited in both color range and strength. While they can be diluted to create weaker stains, they can't be made stronger without the use of universal tints.

GOLDEN High Flow Acrylics, and Fluid Acrylics can be used as pigmented stains. Fluid Acrylics need to be blended with the GOLDEN Airbrush Medium to be used for staining. Start at equal parts of Fluid Acrylic to Airbrush Medium, and increase medium additions as needed to alter open time or pigment load. This will produce thin watery stains that may be applied like any other stain mixture.

Product	Conditioning	Fast Drying Staining	Slow Drying Staining	Gel Staining
Airbrush Medium (AB Medium)	Best for porous woods & large projects.		Use to extend colours as required	Increases working time. Mix 1:1 AGL, with with colours as needed.
Airbrush Transparent Extender (AB Trans Extender)	Best for hardwoods & small projects	Use to extend colours as required
High Flow Acrylics		Use as is or extended with AB Trans Extender	Use as is or extended with AB Medium
Fluid Acrylics		Must be thinned with AB Trans. Extender, minimum of 1:1	Must be thinned with AB medium minimum of 1:1

GOLDEN Acrylic Glazing Liquid can be added to stain mixtures to create a "gel stain". This can be useful for easier dimensional or vertical applications and results in less penetration into the wood because of its thickness. The Acrylic Glazing Liquid (AGL) can be used with the High Flow Acrylics without any other medium. However, the suggested starting point is to preblend the AGL with the Airbrush Medium at a 1:1 ratio, and then blend this mixture as needed with either the High Flow Acrylics, or Fluid Acrylics. It's important to experiment with different ratios to create the desired gel stain body.

High Flow Acrylics are ready to use, however they are strongly pigmented and may need to be diluted prior to use as stains. High Flow Acrylics with "Transparent" in their name may be more successful for beginning experiments as they have a much lower level of pigment. High Flow Acrylics may be extended by adding Airbrush Medium or Airbrush Transparent Extender, depending on the required working time. Traditional wood staining techniques, such as multiple coats to build strength and depth can be accomplished with the GOLDEN Fluid Acrylics, and High Flow Acrylics, and can be used in whatever combination is required.

Clear-Coating

Once the stains have been allowed to fully dry, the wood is ready to be topcoated. The final coating used should be selected for the requirements of the object. Fine art objects or frames may be able to be coated with GOLDEN Polymer or MSA Varnish, while functional items such as furniture require tougher products such as polyurethane. Golden has tested a wide range of clear coats over the acrylic stains and has found excellent compatibility with most commonly used sealing coats, including:

Waterborne polyurethane
Solventborne polyurethane
Nitrocellulose lacquers
Shellacs
2 part urethanes
2 part epoxy resins

NOTE: Testing should always be done when trying new combinations of products before using on important projects.

DISCLAIMER
The above information is based on research and testing done by Golden Artist Colors, Inc., and is provided as a basis for understanding the potential uses of the products mentioned. Due to the numerous variables in methods, materials and conditions of producing art, Golden Artist Colors, Inc. cannot be sure the product will be right for you. Therefore, we urge product users to test each application to ensure all individual project requirements are met.