Skip to content

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

How to Stain Pine to Look Like White Oak

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.

Affiliate Disclosure: I may earn a small commission for my endorsement, recommendation, testimonial, and/or link to any products or services from this website.

Tips for Staining Pine

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.

Testing Stains on Pine WoodTesting Stains on Pine Wood

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 staining process

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!

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

  1. Hello! Thank you so much for this tutorial! This is exactly what I was looking for. I was just wondering what stains are shown in the second picture that shows two planks of wood, one darker and one lighter? Is this still with Puritan pine?

    1. Hi Dani (nice name BTW, ha!). This was a while ago, but I believe the darker color on the left was Puritan Pine and the lighter color on the right was Pickled Oak and then Puritan Pine, using wood conditioner first. I definitely would recommend testing your stain on a scrap piece of wood or a small area to make sure you like the color before staining the entire piece!

  2. Hi! Thank you for this info, very helpful! Unfortunately, I found this after my first try at staining pine..it looks okay but I am not a fan of the yellowy color-it was suggested to try whitewashing it, I also read something about bleach? Should I sand it? I’m a newbie and don’t know where to go from here and I don’t want to give up on my first staining project! Any way I could fix it? Thank you!

    1. Hi Tara, you absolutely can fix it! If you haven’t sealed the wood yet, then you can (and should) try doing a whitewash/paint wash over it. If you have already sealed it (or if you don’t like the results of the whitewash), then sanding it down to start over fresh is your best bet. I hope that helps! My first wood staining project was pine, and I did a lot of experimenting to figure out how to make it look good. You’ve got this!

    1. Hi Lori, depending on the type of polyurethane you are using and the durability needed, you may not need 3 coats of polyurethane. I do find when using the wiping poly, that 3 is minimum I would do because it is thinner. I did skip the polyurethane altogether on the room divider I built a few years ago (not because I wanted too, but just ran out of time and didn’t feel like it), and that’s been fine. Of course, that doesn’t get handled or stuff put on it ever, it just sits there, so if it’ll see any use, I would definitely add a protective layer. Hope that helps!

  3. Love all the tips! Did you sand between any steps or just the original sanding process in the beginning? I just white washed my wood and feel like it’s not nearly as smooth but can’t find any info on that. Thank you in advance!

    1. Hi Mariah! I usually sand with 320 grit between coats of polyurethane at the end, excluding the final coat. With the whitewash, if it was a water/paint mixture (vs a whitewash stain), then it would have raised the grain of the wood (which is basically water popping, what we did in step 2 with the water/tea). Unless it got really wet and is now extremely rough, I would not sand it until after you apply poly at the end so you don’t remove any of the finish. If it is very rough, then you may want to lightly sand it and do another light coat of whitewash or water pop it again. Hope this helps! If you have more questions, just ask 🙂

  4. Pingback: How To Stain Yellow Pine? - String Pulp !!

  5. Hi! This a super helpful post! Have you ever tried mixing the pickling stain and the Puritan Pine so it’s just one step?

    Thanks!

    1. Hi Tracey, I’m glad you found it helpful! I haven’t tried mixing the two stains, but it’s certainly worth a shot! I’d be curious to hear how it goes if you do mix them 🙂

  6. This is great info! However, you didn’t label your photos. You have multiple pieces of different shades of wood in each image. Which image shows the final product based on your exact pine wood staining process?

    1. Hi Whitney, sorry I wasn’t better about labeling the photos! The top image for the post shows the color using my process (left side of the two-tone plank is with only Pickled Oak, and right side is with Puritan Pine on top). I did link to my daybed in the post, and there are photos of the finished color in that post as well!

  7. Hi!
    Just came here to say thank you for mentioning the wood conditioner! ALOT of flippers just don’t use this and I really believe it ups your game!

    1. Hi Cherie! Yes, wood conditioner makes such a huge difference, especially on soft woods like pine.I can’t believe so many people don’t know to use it!

  8. Hi Dani! I’m about to take on staining 4 square pine columns on the front of our house. You mentioned wiping off the stain immediately after wiping on. Our columns are 10 in wide x 10 ft tall so would you wipe small sections as you go or stain an entire side and then wipe off? This post is exactly what I needed to run across so thank you bunches!!

    1. Hi Kim! It depends on how deep of a color you want, the longer the stain sits on the wood, the darker it’ll be (to a point). With pine, I find the longer it suits, the more potential it has to become blotchy. So, I would probably work in sections, just be careful where each section overlaps, because it can cause an overlap line. Definitely worth practicing on a scrap piece to get your technique down. Hope this helps! ?

      1. Your post gives awesome tips for pine which a whole new ballpark compared to other woods and I’m going to give it a try. Thanks bunches Dani!

  9. Hi Dani! Thank you for outlining your process with staining pine. I’m trying to find the right color, and the best process, and I think I’ve found it here! I have a question about the picture with three boards, a dark one (left), light one (middle) and medium one (right, no knots). How many coats of each stain did you use for the far right board, the one with no knots? It looks exactly like what I’m trying to achieve. Thanks!

    1. Hi Allison! That was a while ago, but my best guess is that I did pickled oak with two layers of puritan pine on top. I always recommend testing it out on your exact wood since it can look different in different lighting, screens, and different wood species. Hope that helps!

  10. I appreciate you sharing all of this info! I’m DIY’ing staining pine stairs and I need all the advice. How long do you let the pickling white stain absorb into the wood before applying the puritan pine stain? Do you have to let the pickling stain dry first?

    1. Hi Stephanie! I wiped the pickled oak on and wiped it right back off, then applied the puritan pine over it while it was still wet. That makes it super easy and you don’t have to wait so long for it to dry. Good luck with your project!!

    1. Hi Rachel! I’m not sure which picture you’re referring to, but the colors I played with were primarily pickled oak and puritan pine. I highly recommend testing your colors on some scrap wood, and I’ve found the best colors by layering different stains. If you can tell me which picture, I may be able to tell you more specifically. Hope that helps!

  11. I love the look of the two wood stains to the left over the “How To Get A Beautiful Stain on Pine”
    Is this how they turned out using the method you mentioned under “My Exact Wood Staining Process”?

    Thanks!

    1. Hi Gabriela! The middle color is using my exact process outlined. The darker shade to the left I believe had an additional coal of Puritan Pine. But I would highly suggest doing a test on scrap piece of wood and bringing it into the space you plan to have your piece to see how it looks in that lighting. Hope that helps!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.