Wood staining

A wood stain consists of a colorant suspended or dissolved in an agent or solvent. The suspension agent can be water, alcohol, petroleum distillate, or the actual finishing agent (shellac, lacquer, varnish, polyurethane, etc.). Colored or 'stained' finishes, like polyurethane, do not penetrate the pores of the wood to any significant degree and will disappear when the finish itself deteriorates or is removed intentionally.

Pigments and dyes are largely used as colorants. The difference between the two is in the size of the particles. Dyes are microscopic crystals that dissolve in the vehicle and pigments are suspended in the vehicle and are much larger. Dyes will color very fine grained wood, like cherry or maple, which pigments will not. Those fine-grained woods have pores too small for pigments to attach themselves to. Pigments contain a binder to help attach themselves to the wood.

The type of stain will either accentuate or obscure the wood grain. Most commercial stains contain both dye and pigment and the degree to which they stain the appropriate wood is mostly dependent on the length of time they are left on the wood. Pigments, regardless of the suspension agent, will not give much color to very dense woods but will deeply color woods with large pores (e.g. pine). Dyes are translucent and pigments are opaque.

Gel stains are more akin to paint and have little penetrating ability.

Stain is composed of the same three primary ingredients as paint (pigment, solvent, and binder) but is predominantly pigment (or dye) and solvent with little binder. Much like the dyeing or staining of fabric, wood stain is designed to add color to the substrate of wood and other materials while leaving the substrate mostly visible. Transparent varnishes or surface films are applied afterwards. In principle, stains do not provide a surface coating or film. However, because the binders are from the same class of film-forming binders that are used in paints and varnishes, some build-up of film occurs.

The initial application of any paint or varnish is similarly absorbed into the substrate, but because stains contain lower amounts of binder, the binder from a stain resides mainly below the surface while the pigment remains near the top or at the surface. Stains that employ metallic pigments such as iron oxides usually are more opaque; first because metallic pigments are opaque by nature, but also because the particles of which they consist are much larger than organic pigments and therefore do not penetrate as well. Most wood stains for interior uses (e.g. floors and furniture) require further application of varnish or finish for protection and gloss. Stains are differentiated from varnishes in that the latter has no added colour or pigment and is designed to form a surface film. Some products are marketed as a combination of stain and varnish.

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Wikipedia