How to Get a Beautiful Stain on Pine (Wood Staining Tips for Newbies Like Me!)

If you’ve ever looking into staining pine before, then you might understand why I shied away from staining wood for such a loooooonngg time. It felt like an overwhelming task, so I avoided it and all the projects it required. Well, thanks to our Home Office / Guest Room makeover, I was forced to figure it out. Now, I’m still very much new at this, but I’ve gotten really good results on my first two staining projects (both pine!). So, I figured I’d share what I’ve learned.

The first staining project I completed was our $100 DIY Expandable Daybed (you can read more about that HERE). I did A TON of research beforehand, and a lot of it left me more confused. There’s so much conflicting advice out there! Thankfully, I had a lot of scrap wood, so I just started experimenting for myself.

I’ll admit, my first few experiments staining pine were U.G.L.Y. I followed what other tutorials recommended for pine and it still looked horrible! If you’ve ever tried to stain pine before, then you know the struggle I’m talking about. The hard part about pine is the type of graining it has, which consists of large areas of early wood and late wood. This graining absorbs the stain differently because the wood grain is different densities. Lucky for you, through my experimenting, I figured out the secret to staining pine evenly and blocking the more yellow tones it lends to.

As I’ve done more and more woodworking projects, I’ve also discovered some secrets to getting a silky smooth finish.

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How to Get a Beautiful Stain on Pine

1. When staining pine (or any type of wood) wood conditioner is your best friend!

I’m surprised that I didn’t hear much about wood conditioner in all of my pine-staining research. This stuff is literally magic when it comes to staining wood! I’m pretty sure that extends to all types of wood, but it’s particularly miraculous for pine. Here’s why… Remember the graining and different wood densities I described? Well, wood conditioner soaks into the wood and helps it absorb the stain evenly. And I can tell you from all of my experimenting that it doesn’t matter what kind of stain you’re using, you want to use wood conditioner. This is the secret to avoiding splotchiness and horrible grain texture – TRUST ME!

I used this pre-stain wood conditioner for my pine, and I highly recommend it!

The only exception I’ve found to this rule is when I stained my DIY Geometric Wood Art Room Divider black. The black actually came out very even without any wood conditioner (thankfully, because that complex piece took ages to stain!). However, I think the reason for this is because it’s such a dark color. One reason why it’s always worth testing out your stains on a scrap piece of wood or small area before staining the full piece.

2. Use a pickling stain or whitewash on pine to hide yellow wood tones

Once I figured out that wood conditioner was the answer to a nice even stain, next I needed to sort out the color. Pine is naturally very yellow and continues to yellow with age. I don’t know about you, but I don’t particularly love that yellow wood look. I had a friend that suggested thinking about staining wood like you would dying your hair. That got me thinking about toner and how to tone the yellow in the wood. That’s when I tried using pickling stain on my pine. This was a game changer! The light pink of the pickling stain toned the yellow pine beautifully. I loved it so much with just the pickling stain that I almost left it at that. But, I wanted a tad bit more color and depth, so I kept going with my experiment of mixing and layering colors.

This is the pickling stain I used, it makes the yellow pine look similar to white oak (aka. gorgeous for pine!). Using a pickling stain or whitewash first also helps the darker stain apply more evenly.

3. When staining pine, wipe the stain off right away

This tip specifically applies to penetrating stain, but may apply to other types of stain as well. I know the directions on the can says to leave it on longer for a darker finish. However, pine is a softwood, and because of that, it absorbs stain quite quickly. I found it easiest to get an even finish by wiping the stain on and wiping it right back off. This prevents any puddling or dripping so the stain doesn’t soak into the wood unevenly. If you do want a darker color, then I suggest either starting with a darker color or doing a second coat the exact same way.

4. The type of stain matters

In all my experimenting, I found that penetrating stain gives greater depth than gel stain or wiping stain. Penetrating stain soaks into the wood whereas gel/wiping stain sits on top of the wood. Because of this, gel stain may be easier to get a more even finish, but it can look a bit flat compared to penetrating stain. I’m sure gel stain along with it’s fancy stain companions have their place, but I prefer good ‘ole penetrating stain.

I also found that it’s a common practice among bloggers to wipe the wood with black tea rather than water after sanding. The reasoning behind this is it adds tannins to the wood, and tannins are what make the wood change color. I tried this and felt like it added a little something, but it didn’t make a noticeable enough difference to me to prefer one over the other.

5. Always test your stain

This may go without saying, but I highly recommend testing your stain on scrap wood before touching the final piece. The same stain color can look vastly different on different types of wood, and in my experience, they rarely look just like the image on the container. Also, as I found out with my room divider, you never know when you can get away with skipping a step! However, I think the best part of testing your stain is experimenting and gaining confidence with the process of staining wood before working on your final piece.

My exact pine wood staining process:

1. Sand the wood with 80 grit sandpaper, followed by 120 and then 220 to finish. I used my trusty orbital sander for this.

2. Wipe off sawdust with water or black tea

3. 2 coats of MinWax Pre-Stain Wood Conditioner

4. 1 coat of MinWax Pickled Oak Penetrating Stain

5. 1 coat of MinWax Puritan Pine Penetrating Stain – I’ve been really wanting to try special walnut as well, so I think that one is worth a try if you’re looking for a darker color with a more brown tone.

6. 3 coats of Polyurethane – I’ve used polyurethane because it’s what I had on hand, however, it’s known to yellow over time. I’ve used finishing wax on other wood projects, but it gives a less durable finish. Wipe-on polyurethane in satin is my current favorite for a durable, hand-rubbed finish! I always lightly hand-sand between coats of poly using 320 grit sandpaper.

I’d love to hear if this post helped you figure out your staining process! Leave a comment to share or ask any questions you may have. Happy staining!