0.5 Pint Polyshades Stain & Poly Finish, Satin Aged Barrell

I bought the dark walnut gloss to finish a dining room table. This project was not without mistakes. Thank goodness I came back to the website here to find out that you do NOT wipe the stain off with the polyshades! Ugh... I wasted a LOT of time and even did an ebony stain in between from a different company because it wasn't getting darker. The website instructions were very helpful and saved my project. I did end up with dust "nibs" that I sanded down with a brown paper bag and it still kept the gloss finish. The instructions need to be more clear on the can! But I am SO happy with the end result! Learned a lot!

I'm a huge fan of the polyshades line. I'm sad to see it get such bad reviews. So I'm going to give a few tips that I think might help others. You can clean your brushes with paint thinner or mineral spirits, but with any oil based product it's a pain and not worth the clean up time in my opinion. I've had great success with even the cheapest brushes on the market. You can stir it or shake it very well - just like paint. I prefer to shake it well. If it's not mixed well you're not going to get an even stain poly mix. So if the color doesn't look right when you start or you can see there's separation between the two, mix again. Keep a wet edge and keep it moving for an even coat, I was easily able to apply it to several feet of wood before it ever becomes tacky. Just like with paint, it's better to do a few thin coats vs a thick one to avoid runs or drips. Wait for each coat to dry, don't ruin your first coat by putting on a second coat too soon. Since the product is thin like water, don't completely saturate your brush, just the tip and wipe the backside against the can so there isn't excess product to drip. Keep the can close to where you are working. I love this product, it has given new life to dressers, a bed, tables, an old desk, windowsills and trim in my home. My favorite shade is American Chestnut, it shows more red undertones in natural sunlight, otherwise it looks like a rich med-dark brown. It's a great match to many of my antique pieces.

[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] Top piece was before. Goes on easy. I used an old rag to rub on. I prefer a rag to paint brush because it is easier to apply. I used two coats in the pictures. The stain brings out the grains in the wood. I like this stain a lot and plan to use it for other projects.

I know very little about finishing things, but I found this to be so easy and the results amazing! I brushed it on lightly, let it dry and then did a second coat. SO BEAUTIFUL that I did my old worn bathroom cabinets from 1981 and they turned out amazing. Now I am doing my 100 year old piano before I head to my kitchen cabinets.

Bought this in hopes of cutting down on finishing time. Sadly, I can't say that I'm very impressed with the product. While stirring a brand new can, noticed very thick clumps almost pudding like in bottom of can. Can't seem to get them to mix back into the rest of the solvent after spending quite a bit of time trying. Don't waste your time with this product.

purchased the polyshade stain in mahogany. Three coats to get the dark shade I wanted,. (staining oak kitchen cabinets). I did this on an extra cabinet door I had to see if I would like it and make sure not to difficult since I have never done this before. Did not like the shine on the door. I purchased the satin but it dried with a high gloss finish. I don't want this type of finish on my kitchen cabinets to show the imperfections of the cabinets. Going to try gel stain from a different manufacture.

I tried to use this product on new, prepared red oak but it produces inconstant coverage - blotchy results. 2nd coat made it worse. Now I've given up and am just going to paint the the shelves white. PolyShades ruined my ability to do what I wanted to do. Now I have to invest more time and money in re-coating the shelves. Combining the polyurethane with stain sounded like a good idea - but isn't. I the future I'll go back to staining first THEN using polyurethane.

I have always used Minwax products when refinishing wood and have always had great results. I decided to try the Polyshades to save some time. What a mistake that was. It goes on unevenly, is hard to spread and refuses to dry. Instead of saving me time it is taking me a lot longer.

I do not enjoy painting and staining in general, but also am very particular about the quality of the finish, so I sometimes do projects myself to ensure quality outcomes. I chose this product because I found that the new sliding doors I thought only needed varnish to match the room actually required stain. Since I now had a coat of Minwax polyurethane one the wood, I searched for a stain that I could apply over the existing varnish. Enter PolyShades. I wish I had read the reviews first. This product is HORRIBLE to apply, especially on vertical surfaces like a door. It starts out very watery, which runs badly, and then it quickly turns gummy as you try to fix runs, leaving splotchy areas that are darker - once this process starts, you can't recover. Critical mistake on my part was to go back to an area and try to even out the color. I will now have to sand the wood back down, and start over. I want to cut my loses and switch to a regular stain, but now have to worry about color matching the trim that I have to redo with the door frame that actually turned out ok.

I purchased this to give new life to an old dresser. It was difficult to get on, almost impossible to get an even coat and avoid drips. And, after waiting forever between coats, it took days to finish the project and we'll,...every time I look at it I kind of grimace. If you look from far away it's not bad, but up close its awful. Not even close to the results from a separate stain and poly. Now I need to invest more time and money into sanding, priming and painting it. I just can't find the energy to completely strip it so I can stain and poly the right way.