Remember how I tested a bunch of stain and was sure it was going to be Provincial or Early American? (the two on the left)
Well, Chris and I went out to the garage after coat #2 really had time to dry and weren’t really that thrilled with Provincial and Early American. Instead, we thought it was really between Early American and Moorish Teak (my long time favorite, but I was still fearful it was too dark)
As we looked at the stain I remarked that I really liked how Moorish Teak had looked after one coat, but didn’t really like it with two. And Chris said, “So, why don’t we just do one coat then?” Well, duh! We have always stained things in at least two coats, so it just seemed automatic to me. Just to make sure though we did one more sample with just one coat of Early American and one coat of Moorish Teak
We also tested to see if we wanted to use the pre-conditioner or not, so we used a piece of scrap wood and pre-conditioned half of it and then tested both colors
In the end, we both liked Moorish Teak more, hooray! It’s not too dark with just one coat of stain and we really liked how rich it looked. We also decided to use the pre-conditioner because we liked how the grain popped. Here is the pre-conditioned piece with one coat
And here’s the piece with no pre-conditioner with one coat
The color looks a lot more crisp with the pre-conditioner than without. And with no two coats, there are no sandings between and no fear of streaks like before
Once we had decided on the stain I got ready. Chris is the builder and I’m the finisher – so I set out all the face frames
Then they got a coat of pre-conditioner
After the pre-conditioner was on, I stained everything. I have no pics of that process because my hands were all covered in stain, but when things were done I wasn’t super thrilled
From afar they looked great, but up close things were a little splotchy and uneven
Ugh. I wasn’t pleased and wasn’t sure why things had gone on so uneven. I used the same method I always do: apply across a large length to ensure even coverage with no streaks, wait about 2-4 minutes per section and wipe away excess stain. I practiced this across all 3 pieces, but things were looking pretty questionable.
I resolved to wait until Chris came home to consult him for advice. I had a few ideas of my own, but lets all be honest, Chris knows 17 times more than me so I didn’t want to go on some crazy stain fixing adventure without asking him for his advice. I’m not some crazy idiot 
Sarah Ugly Duckling House says
It didn't work out exactly as planned, but I absolutely LOVE the look from afar. That color is definitely the right choice
Copper Blue says
Yeah I have had that problem too when using pre-conditioner. It's definitely better than not using the conditioner, but I've found I need that second coat to "even things out". Problem is it's going to make it darker.
What kind of sheen are you going to use for poly? A semi-gloss will mitigate some of that blotchiness because of the slight reflectivity (is that a word?)
Another thing you can try is wiping the piece with mineral spirits, which should lighten it up a bit, and then applying another coat of stain. I'd wait to apply the 2nd coat until the mineral spirits completely evaporates, as I've found it helps darken the stain, which it sounds like you don't want to do.
Try all that on some scrap first though. Good luck. Staining can be a major PITA but once you nail it your project becomes a work of art.
meryl rose says
Thanks Sarah!
Thanks for the advice Copper Blue
We did use a couple of those methods. It's definitely looking better (posting about it tomorrow). It's not flawless, but it's MUCH improved.