In my recent cabinet project I have tried several attempts with General Finishes water based stain (Expresso color). All my samples have been coming out solid black. Definitely not the brown tone I was hoping for.
Here's my technique (Please critique as required)
Using Ash plywood and solid wood.
My final sanding has been attempted at 150, 180, & 220 to see if it would make any difference.
I've also attempted to use GF extender at the max recommendation of 15%. That got me closer to the brown but the second application to even everything up took it the rest of the way to black.
I'm doing small areas at a time, I flooded it on with a foam brush and immediately (within 1-2 min) used a clean cloth to rub across and in circles to work it into the surface. Within another min or so I'm using a neatly folded clean cloth to remove the excess.
At no time was the stain ever on for more than 5 min before the excess was wiped off. (2-3 min was more likely)
FWIW it is very hot and dry here in TX this time of year.
I feel like I need to water it down well beyond the max recommendation of 15%. I'm thinking up to 50%? Just wanted some opinions before I made such a drastic move. Maybe 25% extender and $25 water?