General Finishes Water Based Wood Stain, 1 Gallon, Walnut

I've used many General Finishes products for various furniture items as well as a project that involved refinishing my staircase and have been very impressed with the results, especially given the fact I don't know what I'm doing and learn everything from the GF videos on their website and YouTube channel. Anyway, I used the graphite wood dye for an "off-label" use - restoring the color to my photobleached landscaping boulders in my backyard. I have about 30 large boulders the size of small boulders that receive direct sunlight for most of the day and over the years have almost bleached out to a very light gray tone. I wanted to restore some of the original darker color and add some more depth to the boulders and thought the General Finishes Wood Stain in Graphite might work - and it worked brilliantly! I'm very happy with the result and delighted with this product.

If your not familiar with general finishes do some research BEFORE purchasing so you understand what your doing and how this stain works!Tips: stir, stir, stir, stir, stir, stir, stir and STIR! It comes very thick and chunky. This is normal. Do not use steel wool (small steel will get embedded and rust over time) this is a WATER based stain. Finish with a top coat. GF high performance flat is amazing.This product is thick and not like traditional stain. The color is amazing and prior to the grey stone color, very difficult to achieve. Applying will wet the wood during application and may look odd but TRUST it will dry beautiful. This color looks like it came straight out of the Homegoods Store.I used to have to use 3 stains and a spécific technique to get this color.Packaged with care. I've had issues with GF arriving exploded in the past but this seller clearly knew how to ship stain. The metal rim peices secure the lid.

Trust me, I am not very knowledgeable about staining and finishing wood, but this stuff really made me look good. I tried several products on the underside to see if they had that dark rich walnut color I wanted and this was the clear winner. Use it liberally and be patient, don’t try to do it all in one day. Use some good quality all cotton rags to wipe off the excess and whatever you do, don’t wait too long and let it dry! Get the excess off before it dries or you won’t like it. I put two coats on liberally and wiped as soon as I got to the other end. After a day of drying I used General finishes Satin Poly on it and the results made it look like I actually knew what I was doing. Great product. Will buy again and again. So glad they have it on Amazon because my Lowe’s and Home Depot didn’t.

I tried this stain on an Ikea butcher block table and after MANY failed attempts with different stains and staining methods the whitewash from GF finally got the job done!I had previously used bleach but this stain helped to tone down the stubborn orange.It dries FAST so make sure you work in sections, and I used a scotch brite type of sponge to wipe off the excess.

First time using this brand and have no regrets. The stain colour was as expected and the finished product on my furniture is beautiful...

This is my 3rd product to attempt to stain some oak trim. First crack was gel stain, then a water-based dye, then this, water based wood stain. The gel stain was uneven, the dye weak, this stuff? Spectacular. I did a side-by-side test and this shone immediately. Goes on quickly a quick wipe and it was brilliantly easy to apply a nice even-colored coat. Blew me away. I did short, 24" sections before wiping and found it was easy to blend. Love this stuff.

I used this product on my oak floor, which needed to be stained, because it was very badly marked up. This was my first ever floor refinishing project, so I had no prior experience to draw from, and no idea what to expect. But, I found this stain to be very easy to work with. I found it's best if you thin it with water. 3 parts stain to one part water worked very well. It just keeps it wet longer, so it doesn't dry so fast while you're working with it. I did one entire coat, and then two partial coats, which were mainly to fill in areas where I didn't get enough stain the first time. I just sat on the floor, and applied it with a sponge brush, and then wiped with a lint free rag. If you have lap marks, or you accidentally apply it too thick somewhere, it's very easy to sand off, so it's a good product for amateurs like me who goof up a lot. There was also no odor, and I was extremely happy with the result.

I bought the "Walnut" water based variant. Not a stranger to staining but I've always used oil based. Couldn't find oil based walnut from G.F. either here or on the manufacturer website. All in all I hate this stuff, completely unforgiving and a nightmare to work with. You really have to saturate the piece because this stuff dries incredibly fast and any minor imperfection will stay there, even if it was only there for a couple seconds. As soon as you get this on wipe it off, even then it will probably be drying somewhere. The color is more akin to an ebony than walnut, looks identical to some ebony stain I already have.... even diluted with pre stain conditioner like suggested by the manufacturer is not even remotely a walnut shade. Don't know if the manufacturer is mixing labels with the wrong cans or they're just colorblind. The picture I included shows their walnut, thinned, on a piece of rubberwood, a very light wood, next to an actual piece of black walnut, and also the can where you can see the swatch, which is completely different from the finished product at any intensity.In the end I just trashed it and went and got some oil based minwax from a local hardware store with stellar results. Also, I have no clue why this is so expensive. F*** me I guess....

Love this product goes on so easy, absorbs well into the wood. Nice colour. Easy clean up.

Needed to stain a wall and door therefore was after the GEL STAIN because it does not drip as easily as ordinary stain. Received a notice stating that the gel was not available and assumed I would get a refund. OH NO!! They just decided to send whatever they had on hand to get the sale hoping that I would not send it back because of the international post!!!!!!!! Well they were right!!!

It is not a gel stain.It is a water base stain

This is neither oil-based nor a gel stain. It's a water-based stain. So at least the photo is accurate, but I was hoping for a water-based gel stain.