Staining a door

I have a couple of doors bought from the door-seconds store. I’ve fixed the parts that made them “seconds”, so I’m ready to stain.

Every time I stain something smaller it stain dribbles around the edges, which is not a big deal if it’s a piece of trim because the dribble side goes against the wall. But on a door both sides - plus the edge - will be visible.

Is there some trick to staining a door but not having the stain run around the corner? I can’t flip the door; each side needs 4 coats (matching kitchen cabinets as best I can) and then poly, so I’ll have to do one side completely, then the other side.

I have the door laying flat across two saw horses; finished trimming it to size this morning, on to the next step: prep, then stain. The wood is, of course, virgin; the door is shaker style, if it matters. No previous stain or paint to deal with. Any tips appreciated.

Painter’s tape? Tape-off any areas you don’t want stain.

Also, you’re supposed to have a clean cloth to wipe the stain after applying. So no puddles, and -if you use tape- no worrying about the tape being a dam.

Or maybe I’m not visualizing the problem correctly.

I’m not following. If you’re going to be staining all four sides, why does it matter if some dribbles over the edge? (You can wipe the edge right after staining a flat side if you’re concerned about, say, streaking.)

Stain using a cloth rather than a brush. Not sure if this provides the look you want or not.
Also, could just use the cloth to immediately dab the edges when using a brush.

Mike

each side needs 4 coats
of stain?

What kind of finish are you doing?

Usually when I’m finishing something I will do 1 coat of stain, using a rag and applying heavily so that it soaks in good for ~15 minutes, then wiping off the excess with a cotton rag (T-shirts, old cotton socks, etc) after it’s had time to soak in. Then I let the stain cure for at least overnight, hopefully longer, before starting on the poly or danish oil or other topcoat.

I recently did an item where I did a coat of “wood conditioner” before staining so that I wouldn’t get blotchiness, as I read hevea wood is prone to that.

When using a rag to apply stain I haven’t had issues with drips/dribbles.

Using a brush to apply Poly - can’t say the same. :slight_smile:
When I missed the drips, I was able to scrape/sand the drips out before the next coat. And when I saw the drips as I was finishing, I could brush away the drips to make them a thin layer, and it disappeared when I sanded and recoated that section the next time. (or if I noticed it early enough, I could use a rag to wipe off the drip)

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I’m not following. If you’re going to be staining all four sides, why does it matter if some dribbles over the edge?

It’s been a while since I’ve done any significant staining except for window and door trim and the like. This is a whole big canvas and it’s going to be right in the living area, so I’d rather not have it be sloppy. When I do the trim it’s sloppy - even if I wipe up the drips as I go.

What I’m most concerned about is it dripping onto the underside, me not catching it, and when I flip the door to do the other side I see this really dark splotch I didn’t know was there. I’ve taped off one side of the outer perimeter with green tape, mashed the edge down good, and am working on the other side. Hopefully if there’s a drip it won’t slip under the tape.

What kind of finish are you doing?

Just standard Varethane oil stain. Three coats “Gunstock” and a final coat of “Red Oak”. I need the red highlight to work with the kitchen cabinets. (I tried getting the original stain from the manufacturer, but no go. It’s “discontinued” and they won’t tell me the formula.) Then a final two coats of spray poly. I totally suck at brush poly. I did about 20 small scale tests to try to match; harder than I thought. I did pre-mix, I did the red first as an undercoat, I did Red Oak, Red Mahogany, Cherry, New England Chestnut, and about 5 others. Harder to match than I thought it was going to be.

Of course something will go wrong and it won’t translate from the test to the full door, and then I’ll curse and yell and then hang it anyway. Already had to trim 3/16 from the width and 7/16 from the height, so I have (to use the stock terminology) a lot of sunk costs.

Anyway this is what’s going on in my Omicron basement. Mrs. Goofy just finished a tennis bracelet using some semi-precious mineral stones she worked 10 days on in isolation in her studio. Oh what a joyful time to be alive :wink:

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https://thd.co/3IjVANZ

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Two doors? Perfect.

Stand the doors on end, as if they were installed. Put them at about a 90 degree (or slightly wider) angle to each other, with just a inch or two gap between them. Nail a bit of scrap lumber across the top of the two doors to brace them upright. Then stain the whole door at once. If you want to go back and stain the top and bottom edges later, you can. But both are pretty much invisible.

–Peter

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Stand the doors on end, as if they were installed. Put them at about a 90 degree (or slightly wider) angle to each other, with just a inch or two gap between them. Nail a bit of scrap lumber across the top of the two doors to brace them upright. Then stain the whole door at once. If you want to go back and stain the top and bottom edges later, you can. But both are pretty much invisible.

OMG this is so smart. If I hadn’t started last night I would be doing it this way, but I’m already into a full coat of stain prep and the first coat of stain on side 1, door 1.

I prepped door #1 by sanding, both sides, tack cloth, damp cloth, sand again, repeat. Haven’t done anything with the second door yet, but maybe I could and then play catch up? Gotta think about it, but thanks for the really good idea.

Plenty of good advice so far, but I’d say the most important advice, as mentioned, is to apply the stain with a cloth. I have never, ever, used a brush to apply stain.

My method: put on latex or similar gloves (I much prefer nitrile gloves when I can get them). Grab an old white athletic sock – you know one of the unmatched ones in your sock drawer. Put it on my right hand over the nitrile glove. Dip and spread. You almost automatically get a smooth even coat. Follow directions on timing, but then redo if not deep enough color. After doing a ‘side’ run the now mostly dry sock over the sides to pick up and spread the drips/runs.

Never done the tape ‘dam’ technique. My mind’s eye says you’d more likely get puddling and darker staining at the edges. I guess it might work to prevent drip from migrating around to the other side, but using a cloth and working towards the edges, there’s just not much reason for that to happen anyway.

Good luck. Thinking you are overthinking this.

And yes the poly part is a hundred times more difficult. My son buys a two-part resin (nearly $100 a gallon) and pours the final coating. Of course, he is preparing tabletops and wants the finish hard and stain/impact resistant. Still requires a significant skill level to get it right at the edges, but bubble-free and no sanding.

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Always be very careful with oil stains, finishes when using rags, spontaneous combustion caused a scary fire here years ago, came close to losing the garage… Seal them in ziplock, no air, and when done add detergent & water…

Weco - Hates smoke, fire, flames, heat puffed gas cans, shorted phone line, sparking electric cords, broken window, and scorched workbench!

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Hi Goofyhoofy,

Two tidbits to add for standing the doors upright:

  1. First, tack a narrow strip of material on the Bottom of the door. It should not come out to the edge of the door.

  2. Second, tack a narrow piece to the top of the door that does not come out to the edge of the door.

Then tack your pieces to hold the doors onto the added strip.

The narrow strips will allow you to work the full top and bottom edges of the doors without having to “work around” a protrusion. It will also eliminate a possible collection point and darker staining at that point.

It will also give you a break between the plastic sheet/papers on the floor.

Does that help you?

Gene
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