Littlefair's Wood Stain Water-Based - (Black Ebony) – Non-Toxic, Eco-Friendly & Quick Drying - Easy-to-Apply, Concentrated Formula for All Wood Types – 500ml

I wanted a water based stain to soak into my wood and colour it. I do not really like using a coloured varnish, so wanted to do this in two stages. This stain is easy to work with. It has the same consistency as water, so if brushing, use a jam jar or something to help reduce the amount of stain on the brush. Then I found it best to quickly brush it out (almost scrubbing it) as far as possible. Overloading the brush will cause splashes, and pooling on the surface. The colour will not be very dense on a first pass like this, but it might be surprisingly nice and even. If I was doing the same job again, I might have actually stopped before developing the full colour. The first passes left a subtle colour and more prominent grain, which was nice. Using a dark stain (French Oak), this disappeared somewhat with further coats. The stain finish is very flat matt and actually begs to just be polished, but I had planned to finish with a satin varnish to make it look a little more saturated, and to protect the wood from splashes, and make for easy cleaning. I used the littlefriars water based varnish, but this was much more tricky than the stain. The water based varnish started picking up stain in seconds, and spreading it around like a coloured varnish (which I wanted to avoid as it is too easy to produce streaks). I am not sure if an oil based varnish would have had the same effect. It is probably best to test the system components before attacking the final product, but does anyone ever do that ? I dont as I am too impatient, so I can blame myself for shortcomings in the finish. With the water based varnish picking up some of the stain, it was inclined to leave darkened marks at the end of brush strokes. If ending brush strokes on the same line (as I would for painting). This produced noticable lines accross the work, so I started ending lines in a sawtooth to avoid straight lines. Grain differences seemed also to be exagerated by the varnish interaction with the stain. I now think that the first varnish coat needs to be applied reasonably thickly and very quickly , to avoid going back over the same patch (in total opposition to painting the stain). Returning to a patch even within seconds will result in picking up the stain in the varnish and moving it in an undesirable way, and probably resulting in patchy or streaked work. Most of my difficulty was with the varnish but this needs to be known when starting out. I still think this is what I wanted and think it relatively easy to use, it just needs care when finishing.

​I recently used the Little Fairs Water Based Woostain for a few DIY projects around the house, and I'm very happy with the results. I had a lot of questions about application, so I'll try to provide a detailed review for others. ​First off, the colors are beautiful and rich. I used the it on some shelves and it gave them a really classic, deep wood look without being overly dark. The stain itself is low-odor, which is a massive plus if you're working indoors. It also dries quite quickly, so you can do multiple coats in one day. ​Now for the "be prepared" part: this is a water-based stain, so it's a bit different to work with than traditional oil-based ones. It can raise the grain of the wood, so you'll want to do a very light sanding after the first coat. I also found that a good quality foam brush worked best for application to avoid streaks. It absorbs very quickly, so you need to work in small sections and wipe away the excess within a minute or two. Don't let it sit too long! ​Overall, I highly recommend this stain, especially if you're looking for a low-odor, quick-drying option. Just be sure to do a test patch first and get your application technique down. The end result is beautiful and long-lasting. I'll definitely be buying more for future projects.

Decent product, good value for money, good finish, seems to be water resistant.

This is by far the best stain I have used so far. I applied this with a sponge brush and it gave outstanding results. It is so easy to apply and re - coat. I have never used a stain that is so forgiving in respect to the application, brush directions and going over it again when it is still wet make no difference, when it dries and it does so very quickly it leaves an unblemished uniform finish. I was staining light oak to black and this took a lot of coats to achieve the shade of black I wanted, but I didn’t find this a problem as the coats went on so easily and dries quickly between coats. Unlike other stains i have used you can literally go over areas that you have just stained and it doesn’t matter at all, it just soaks into the wood leaving a perfect finish. When using the foam brush I noticed it left a few tiny bubbles in some areas, so I went over the area again while still wet, but it still left a couple behind. I decided to leave them to see what it looked like when dry. It dried to a perfect finish. I thoroughly recommend this product and will purchase again.

Excellent water-based stain - deep black color, perfect result. Great quality and fast delivery.

Not as dark as I was hoping for. Not sure if several applications would have improved its finish. Product is only water-based (as stated on discription). Gel based may be a better choice. Not a poor product, just a poor choice for job I intended to complete.

Perfect colour for what I wanted. I got the French Oak. It took 2litres to stain my Ikea Ivar shelves (excluding inside the cabinets), and I only did one coat. I probably should have treated with wood conditioner and sanded the pieces first, and given everything a second coat, plus the varnish on top, but I was lazy and ran out of time. I'm really happy with how just one coat looks. It's so easy to use. No smell at all. I used a normal paint brush but switched to a foam brush. Both worked well, but the foam brush was easier to control. Love it. The pic with 4 stains from top left: English Oak, French Oak, Black Ebony, Dark Red Mahogany.

This was puchased to stain a new cap to go on a newel post, when new cap turned up nowhere near the colour advertised online. Antique pine seemed to be closest shade to what was needed to coordinate with other elements in the surrounding area. First time we have used this or any wood stain. Our first impressions was it arrived intact, plastic bottle and in a plastic bag with no leakage. Instructions very small so either need a magnifier or photo and enlarge the writing as micro dot! We thought the wood stain would be thicker than what it was, it is water-based and the product is of a water-consistency so would described as a dye. Having prepped the wood as per instructions we chose a brush to put on the stain. However, the stain was so runny and because of the shape of the cap, the stain from the brush was running down the edges in dark dribbles and onto the newspaper. Thought that using a cloth would work better and less messy. Coverage was good by cloth for this small item. Finish of item meant that 2 of the 4 sides absorbed the stain differently and unevenly, not the problem of the stain product itself but the wood. Left to dry and 2 sides of cap patchy so re-did them and felt best to give all other areas a light second coat. Resulted in a lovely golden antique look. 2 sides are still darker than rest due to quality/cut of wood, but will be less noticeable when a light coating of varnish is added for that final protection. Can't fault the product, will be happy with the end result with a coat of varnish. However, with hindsight, it may have been easier to do the colouring with an all-in-one wood colouring-come-varnish than a separate stain. For large areas of wood to permanently change colouring this product will be perfect. For small jobs this bottle will last for a very long time a a little goes a long way. If using a cloth do wear gloves as though waterbased it does still take a little while to remove the tinge of the stain from fingers!