Purple wood stain colour

[Scotts]

Hi. couple of things.

1.wondering if anyone out there would know how to make a purple wood stain. 

2.  Is it true you can mix a water based stain with water based paint to achieve the colour. Or the same with oil based. If so what what would be the best initial stain to use. 

This is the colour im trying to achieve

[Old-gal24]

@Jojo69  thank you for your reply.  I find anything to do with wood interesting and hadn't seen this type of wood craft prior to your comment.  I'm even more interested as when I complete the project I'm working on at present I plan on lining a wall with old timber fence palings, which I've been collecting for some time now and was interested in possible introducing touches of colour here and there.  I'm guessing the longer the dye is left on the wood prior to wiping it off the darker the colour?   Using the Rit Fabric Dyes would give me a great choice of colours.  Where do you purchase your dyes from?  I have some old Rit Dyes from years ago when I did a bit of tie dying.  Think I may have purchased them at a chemist. I guess I could get them from spotlight if I looked. 

Thanks again for your reply and the lovely picture.

Cheers this Old Gal   

[MitchellMc]

Hi @Old-gal24

You can use pigment-based tint with water-based or oil-based wood stains. You can purchase from Bunnings tint directly from the machine instead of an actual colour combination. Next time you are in a store which has the traditional manual dispenser ask the team member if they can show you the base tints. You'll find a variety of vibrant colours which you can use.

This works the same for the colour range as you can request the tint for that colour instead of a can of paint in that colour. You need to also be aware that there are different bases on the shelf which are required to go with the specific tints to get that exact colour. When you don't use those bases and use a stain base instead the colour will differ.

Unlike dyes, the pigment-based tint will tend to sit on the surface of the timber and not be absorbed as much. This may or may not be to your advantage depending on the application.

Mitchell

[Old-gal24]

Thank you @MitchellMc  much appreciated.  I have gone into Bunnings *(which I am lucky to live only a km from) and purchased 10lt tins of paint and then purchased smaller buckets so I can paint several rooms different colours.  So go jars of enough colour to do each room, without having to purchase 3 different drums of the same paint and have it tinted.  

Ta This Old Gal

[Brad]

Rustoleam (Spelling?) has some tints at Bunnies the green interests me.

Feast  Watson has stains also most notably Japan Black, they can be mixed in or put down then cleared over.

Cabbots has some premixed colours and some tinting options, Valdic Pine will stay with me for a while, not for the right reasons.

Johnstons also have a range of tints but the whole range is special order only, Berger is the Australian maker and they proudly claim to have thought of Mission Brown, that puts me off a lot...

Steel wool and vinegar will give you an aging solution which can then be cleared over.

Burning has already been covered.

Spalting is more a wood turning thing.

I am sure I have missed some of the colour technics that can be used.

[Jojo69]

Hi @Old-gal24 you can get it at spotlight, linecraft or even Big W. I do put a clear varnish to hold the colour in so it does not fade.

Just a hint, start with 1/4 tea spoon in 1/2 cup of boiling water. First time i tried it i put in a couple of tablespoons, everything turned out black. 

Good luck with it all.

I have also used some stains, i would stay away from your darker blacks or charcoal, i LOVE walnut and hardwax oils with the shou sugi ban which have worked out fantastically as well.  

[Old-gal24]

Thank you @Jojo69  much appreciated.  It will be a few months before I get to my paling job but I have this info now so that should make things so much easier.

Cheer

This old gal   

[pamela163]

I am lookign for this effect and this looks great. Do you dilute the fabric dye or use it straight?

thanks

Pam

[EricL]

Hello @pamela163

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community. It's wonderful to have you join us, and thank you for sharing your question about the fabric dye.

Let me tag @Old-gal24 and @Jojo69 to make them aware of your question. I believe diluting the Rit Dye will give you a much lighter colour versus using it straight. It would be interesting to know what technique they used. If you look at the earlier posts, I'm sure you'll find the stained tables amazing. Are you planning on staining furniture or something else? Any photo updates you can provide would be much appreciated.

If you have any other questions we can help with, please let us know.

Eric

[pamela163]

Thank you Eric & @Old-gal24 and @Jojo69 for original tips.

I stained an old bookcase and wanted it to be blue. Process was a bit of a saga. After sanding, I stained with Denim Rit Dye which ended up being more black than blue. I used it undiluted and then washed off with sponge after I had applied. It was difficult to tell what would be the colour when I applied the dye even thouhg I had tried a test piece of wood. I resanded and tried adding a Evening Blue colour but the dark blue had penetrated the wood too deeply. I finished with Danish oil. Here is the result - darker than I had originally wanted but I like it. My advice is you do need to try out colour on same wood. 

[EricL]

Hello @pamela163

Thank you so much for posting those updated pictures of your bookcase. It is a very unique colour finish and it does have a dark shade to it. How many coats of Danish oil did you apply to the bookcase? Will you be repeating the process on other timber furniture? Any other information you can share would be highly appreciated.

Again, thank you so much for sharing your bookcase revamp project.

Eric