Minwax 618514444 Water-Based Pre- Stain Wood Conditioner, 1 Quart, Clear

Perfect!

As a weekend warrior tackling my first furniture refinishing project, I was nervous about getting an even stain. Enter Minwax Pre-Stain, and let me tell you, it was a game-changer! Here's my honest review:Pros:Smooth Operator: This stuff applies like a dream, leaving no streaks or residue. My bare wood went from thirsty to prepped and ready for stain in minutes.Water-Based Winner: No harsh fumes or messy cleanup! This water-based formula is a breath of fresh air compared to traditional oil-based conditioners.Stain Savior: The stain went on like butter, soaking evenly into the wood without blotching. It definitely made the whole process less stressful.Easy Does It: The instructions were clear and concise, perfect for DIY beginners like myself.Cons:Not a Magician: While it helped even out the stain, it didn't magically fix imperfections in the wood itself. Sanding is still your friend!Subtle Boost: The color enhancement is subtle, so don't expect a dramatic transformation. It mainly helps the stain look its best.Pricey Potion: It costs a bit more than some other conditioners, but for me, the ease of use and water-based formula were worth it.

I frequently stain and finish small wood plaques for mounting my wire sculpture art on, but I'd never used wood conditioner before. The plaques I use are made of raw pine, so they do absorb stain quite splotchily, so I decided to give this wood conditioner a try with my water based stain. My first impressions are that it is quite thin and that the odor is very low, which is quite nice. I took the advice of a lot of people on the internet and applied the wood conditioner and then the stain without letting the conditioner dry. This worked quite well! I also tested a piece of wood where I allowed the conditioner to dry as per the instructions on the can but I found that applying the stain immediately resulted in the fewest splotches.As for the effect of the conditioner itself, it did indeed help reduce splotches on the soft pine, but I found that it lightened up the stain considerably. While this would be useful for someone who wanted a light stain, it was rather irritating for me because I like the look of a dark piece of wood. I ended up having to put four coats of stain on just to get it to the darkness level I wanted, and by the time I did that, it looked the same as three coats of stain with no wood conditioner used. So, yeah, you're mileage with this product may vary depending on what you want your wood to look like at the end of the day. That being said, I could see this product as being useful for using on an end-grain portion of wood since those always get really dark. Anyway, I didn't find this wood conditioner too useful for my purposes, but it does technically work so I can't fault it too much.

Multiple coats thinly spread well and took a moment to soak in so did a couple coats too. Worked like a charm and absorbed the stain nicely. Good value.

I am a believer in this product and will be ordering more. I’m fairly new to woodworking. I used this product on the first two pictures below (the nightstands and the entry way table). After the pre-stain dried, the stain went on like butter. Minimal splotchiness, and so easy to apply.I DIDN’T use it on the farmhouse-style dining room table because the stain I used advertised that no conditioner was needed. The stain was splotchy and took a lot of time to work out and correct. I wound up going through an entire quart on this one table, and I firmly believe it’s because I didn’t condition the wood first.Do note that you need to allow sufficient time for this product to dry before applying stain. I live in a humid environment and complete my projects outside, so it actually took about 90 minutes to fully dry.Overall, solid product at a fair price. Recommend!

Not only is this an excellent product, I would also highly recommend the seller. The product arrived one day ahead of the scheduled time. This product is well worth the expense and time to prepare surfaces for Minwax Pickling Stain.

It works nicely, but mine didn't survive shipping too well. About 1/3 had leaked all over the box, it was a mess. Despite that, enough was left to finish my project. The stain went on evenly over this pre-stain, everything was easy to apply.

Hello , I tried using this stain on a alder guitar body. The body was clean and sanded. I followed the directions to a tee and it came out horrible. I first put on the pre stain and tried wiping it off after the given time. It was very sticky and hard to wipe. I then waited the reccomended time and then applied the stain, waited for 2 min like it said ,and tried wiping the excess off. Again , very sticky , couldnt really wipe too well. The guitar now looks disgusting. Blotchy , no grain showing through at all . If I could give this product - 5 stars , I would because now I will have to sand the whole body and re stain w/ oil penetrating stain. Not sure how a company like minwax can sell this junk. I asked minwax tech support why they cant make an oil stain in the fancy colors like green and blue etc. He said he didnt know why.