Varathane Premium Black Gel Stain

I used this gel stain on our staircase, and I’m so impressed with the results! The “before” stairs were worn and uneven in color, but after applying this stain, the wood looks rich, even, and revitalized. It really brought the staircase back to life and exceeded my expectations. The gel formula was easy to apply with a brush or rag, and it went on smoothly without streaking. Cleanup was simple, and the finish dried beautifully. I love how it enhanced the natural grain of the wood and gave a professional look without the hassle of sanding down completely. Pros: – Rich, even color that looks professional – Easy to apply and blend – Enhances natural wood grain – Dries beautifully with minimal streaks Cons: – Needs a little patience for multiple coats on darker colors Overall, this gel stain transformed my stairs. The “before and after” difference is incredible—I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking to refresh wood surfaces.

This worked well on my fiberglass front door. The door faces west and is literally cooked by our Arizona sun which bleached out the original stain. Once I cleaned the door to get the dust and loose stain off, it turned out to be relatively straight forward to use a brush to evenly apply the stain. I gave it two light coats to get the depth of color desired and then put two coats of polyurethane on to hopefully protect it.

Varathane has always been my "go-to" when it comes to gel stains. Golden Pecan is a rich, warm tone that is very complementary to many of my furniture projects.

I have bought a lot of this particular stain in this specific shade over the years. I find the color to be very deep and accents some darker colors perfectly. I used this on a bench doing the top in Cabernet and the legs in black for a very interesting contrast that garnered a lot of positive feedback. The stain went on very easily with no streaks or spots, in fact the last time I simply used a paper towel to apply it. I would not recommend this method though as it did turn out a bit lighter than expected. One can of this goes a pretty long way giving you great cost to profit ratio if you're doing this in any semblance of 'for sale'. Some of the darker tones I've found need multiple coats come through clearly, this brand/color seems to require less than others saving time and money. While I love the stain and the brand I've had some extremely slight variances in the depth of the end result of the stain. This can possibly be attributed to a particular batch/species of wood obviously but I did think it worth mentioning. Please note that these are very slight variations and if I did not have a previous example to compare it to I would probably not have noticed. If it's not dark enough, wait and apply a second coat. This does very well on pine if you're doing a pre-coat prior to stain, a little less if you don't but that is to be expected. Most other wood species seem to take it just fine without a pre-coat.

OMG..... I love this gel stain! I used this for 6 interior doors and 2 built-in desks for a total transformation of our business office. This DIY project took my old shabby looking oak to a new modern look with this amazing black gel stain. It was much thicker than I had imagined, making it ultimately easier to work with, a quart goes a long way and I did find using a rag to apply was the best method for this gel stain. It dried fairly quickly, I applied two coats and the coverage was AMAZING! This was one of a 3 step process that I used to complete my project but this was the major part of the project and the finish look is incredible. I am very please with the outcome and very worth the small investment.

You know that one infuriating flaw with a home you otherwise love? Well Varathane Gel Wax in Dark Walnut has finally helped me conquer my home's eyesore! For some reason it was designed with a pair of overlapping doorswings. The previous owner had managed to put a soda can sized hole in each door and left the ugliest patches. I tried several different kinds of stains, different wood fillers underneath the stains, furniture repair pens, alcohol inks, felt markers, crayons and more. It all looked like garbage. New doors were not in our budget and I was so irritated. The doors stayed half finished for 6 months. A friend suggested Varathane Gel Stain and I had seen it before but hadn't tried it. So I found it on Amazon and was expecting another disappointment. I didn't even strip the last failed attempt, just put some on a small part of the patch working over to the natural part of the door, waiting for another disappointment. The colors remained consistent on both areas even after drying! The patch was slightly noticable after the first coat but a second application and drawing some wood grain where it was missing - repair work is not visible at all! I am so happy with the results that we will be purchasing enough of this stain to refinish all of our doors, trim, and kitchen cabinets. It really brings out the beauty of our wood. The way the grain is visible but blends in makes the wood look so smooth. I love this stain and am planning to do so many projects using it! Thank you, Varathane. I would definitely recommend this stain!

Great color. Perfect for my stair rails.

I got the dark walnut because I was afraid anything else would be too light or too red for this piece. I was trying to preserve the original color as much as I could while covering all the surface scratches. I did sand it down a little before starting because the scratches were so deep on the top. As you can see it did a great job. I had to slap it on real fast because of course right when I started the pot fell out of my hand. I don’t have the workspace or the time right now to do proper projects so it was good to have something that could go on quickly and easily to make the dresser pretty again. I did use a water soaked foam brush so that the stain would go on lighter otherwise it’s basically paint and I didn’t want to completely cover the old stain color. If you have the option to do it right definitely get acetone to thin this stuff cause gel and water don’t mix. (I know it’s a crime against all refinishing to have used water like this but it worked somehow.) So it looks great until I can refinish her properly in a few years.

Restrained fibreglass front door and was pleased with results. Color match was perfect and stain was very easily applied with bristle brush.

I have a Jackson Dinky with an Amaranth fretboard. I'm so pleased with the result i got after staining. The fretboard almost looks like ebony now.

Je suis vraiment déçue de ce produit. Je souhaitais une teinture noire qui me permette tout de même de voir le grain du bois et ce n'est pas le cas.

Payé 38$ pour le plus petit pot quand tu peut avoir le gros chez home dépôt pour 33$ moi j'appelle ça du vol en plus tu peut pas le retourner supposé dan les produit dangereux mais pas dangereux de te le livré......franchement du vol