Min-Wax Products

[Mark Rios]

Can any of you wonderful wood finishing gurus out there give me any information on Min-Wax Wood Conditioner?

I know very little about wood finishing. I did a little project out of KD fir to practice with. I saw the wood conditioner at HD and had never seen it before. Does one really need to be concerned about using it on fir/pine and maple as mentioned on the label? What does it do to the color of the wood and/or the color of a light stain?

I have purchased Bob Flexner's book "Understanding Wood Finishing" but he doesn't mention the wood conditioner that I've seen yet.
Thanks very much for any information you can provide this novice.

[David Hayes]

Wood conditioner could also be called stain conditioner. On soft woods, such as pine or fir, stain penetrates the heart wood and sap wood at different rates resulting in a "blotchy" appearance. The conditioner acts as a sealer to help give a more even stain appearance.

It is fairly inexpensive so why not try it out on a sample piece of scrap. Apply the conditioner to half, allow to dry, and then apply stain to both halves and see which you like better.

Dave

PS - I am far from a finishing guru - this is just my experience.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Mark, I used some of the Minwax conditioner on a set of drawers sides and backs. The drawer fronts were red oak while the sides and backs were poplar. I used the conditioner to reduce uneven absorbtion of stain with in the softer areas of the poplar. It seemed to work. I was happy with the results. If you are using it on connected disimilar woods, you need to be careful to only apply it where you want the action to take place. I noticed a slight difference in the stain aborbtion on the half-blind dovetailed sections of oak as compared to rest of the rest of the oak drawer fronts. All things considered, I was happy with the results.

[Ray Dockrey]

I used it on a pine dresser I made for my daughter. It worked very well. I would use it again.