Minwax 66060 1 Quart Gel Stain Interior Wood, Walnut

Years ago I use to sell Minwax products. Trusting the name Minwax was not a problem. Trusting my better judgement after reading many negative reviews, made me much more skeptical. However, I dove in and purchased the Gel Stain from Amazon. The walnut color wasn't even available locally. I had painted kitchen cabinets which I needed to strip first. Once that was completed, I began the framing after removing all the doors and drawers. I used a 1" wide foam brush for the cabinets framing. Once I went to the doors and drawers, I selected a 3" foam brush. This size brush just fit into the quart can of Gel. I started at each end moving the Gel toward the center. Reverse the process, starting at the other end , drawing the gel into the center to blend it together. The more quickly you move during this operation the better. You want to spread the stain out as quickly and evenly as possible. I never went back to remove any stain but allowed each piece I was working to dry about 27 hours before handling. The results were most satisfying. I can understand some of the negative comments concerning this product. There is a knack to applying and spreading it. I believe there is a tendency to try and create the perfect grain effect. There is no time for that as the product begins to set(not dry)rather quickly. Trying to rework an area after it is laid down will result in more problems than is needed. The contents went a long long way because after completing the project, I still have almost 3/4 of a quart unused. I didn't give this product 5 stars because of the rapid setup and little time to tweak your work.

See my photos…the first in before and the next 2 are after. First time using gel stain, and I have to say it was much easier than the liquid/watery kind…and much less messy. Our door had already been stained in the past, but had seen better days thanks to the elements, so we lightly sanded it first. We didn’t take the door off the hinges- we picked a nice day that we could leave it open for a few hours with a fan blowing on it…it dries fairly quickly. We had to go pretty thick with it to be able to keep it looking more of a uniform color. The directions say to wait 2 minutes after application and then wipe off. We actually waited about 5 minutes and then very lightly wiped it off, doing small sections at a time. The color was a bit darker than I thought it would be, but we like it. The coverage is a bit heavier than I expected but I’m sure it’s because we left it on a few minutes longer and used a heavy application….but again, we like it. The door is 9’ tall and we did 2 coats- 2 days in between and still have about a third (maybe more) of the little can left. Yes, it’s thick like pudding…IT’S SUPPOSED TO BE. We are happy with the results and would definitely use it again.

Works great on pine wood, much better than traditional wiping stain.

I started looking for woodwork oopsies around the house and took no precautions prior to using this stain. My house has dark stained trim and cabinents and isn't new or even close to new (read, banged up here and there, random holes from objects long removed and gone and DOGS, dogs with demands and toenails to drive home the point) I wasn't looking for sheer coverage as much as I was looking to hide defects and wasn't going to try to be a pro- who has time or patience for that? Sadly not me. Anyway the results: My results were amazing when by all metrics this should have been an epic fail. The stain made me look like I was doing it right and I guarantee I did NOT do it right. I did it quick. I used a foam pad on a stick and went to town on the house. You can't tell where I did my "repairs" and where I didn't and that was exactly what I was trying to accomplish.

Great stain - very easy to work with and great coverage!