How to Use Gel Stain DIY Gel Stained Master Bath Cabinet Makeover

Welcome to my bathroom cabinet makeover

I'm thrilled with how they turned out!

Here's how I did it....

Removed doors, hinges and drawers...

That's Ace supervising

I labeled the doors...just because... probably not necessary with only four doors

Taped off the wall and counter top...

Then lightly sanded everything with a sanding block.  

I also wiped everything down using a sponge and a little soapy 

water with Dawn dishwashing soap to remove any remaining 

grease or residue.  Wiped clean and dried.

Then we get to the fun part...gel stain!

You brush it on with a foam brush, a roller or even a cloth.

And yay me, I remembered to wear gloves this time.

Read about how I used gel stain over white furniture.

I'm actually using the rest of the quart I bought for that previous project.

The product goes far, you don't need much.

I used General Finishes brand and the color I used is "Java".

On their website you can click the "colors" tab to show all

available colors and they also have a "find a retail store" link to see

where it is available in your area. I ended up ordering mine online

since it wasn't available locally.

After you apply it with a brush or roller, you immediately wipe off with a soft cloth.

I don't have a picture of the wiping part because I was, um, wiping.

I wipe once then leave it, you can always touch up later. 

 If you mess up, you can quickly go back over with more gel stain, then RE-wipe.

The thing to remember when using gel stain like this is that you aren't really "staining".

This is more of a topcoat application where you are basically using it to change the color.

You control how dark you want the finish by how much you wipe off since again,

it's not like the traditional way you think of staining.

Other reasons I'm loving gel stain is ...

#1...it's really easy to work with since it's so thick, like the consistency of pudding.

#2...You can still see the grain of the wood.  

You can lose that sometimes when you use paint.

I left them to dry in my air conditioned garage and they were dry to the touch after about 6 hours.

I ended up leaving them overnight since it was late and applied 2 coats of  

Minwax Satin Polycrylic with a foam brush the next morning.

After drying, I reassembled everything and put on my new knobs

I found at Hobby Lobby.

They are some kind of bone, or maybe resin, but I love 'em.

So yeah... Did I mention I'm loving my cabinets?

That's it until next time...thanks for being here!

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