What pre-stain wood conditioner to use on Pine?

[George3]

Is there a pre stain wood conditioner avaiable in Australia ?

Need to stain pine board dar and baltic pine board.

FeastWatson wood primer is not available at Bunnings.

[MitchellMc]

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @George3. It's wonderful to have you join us, and many thanks for your question about pre-stain wood conditioner.

Feast Watson 1L Timber Primer is available in our stores. If you can let me know your closest store I can check on stock levels for you.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Mitchell
 

[Purplepolkiri]

Can I check if this is supposed to be used for conditioning wood before staining? The label on the product says not to so im confused. Do you have any alternative suggestions for a conditioner for pine to be used prior to staining?

[MitchellMc]

Hi @Purplepolkiri,

I've spent some time on this one, and it looks like some of the descriptions for what the product is capable of need adjusting; which I'll get our team on to.

Essentially, the Feast Watson 1L Timber Primer is designed to prepare timber for a coat of a combo stain and varnish product, such as Feast Watson's Stain & Varnish range. Despite the description on the product page, it is not suitable for overcoating with a single-part stain. It coats the surface, and a stain can't penetrate it, whereas the stain and varnish combo doesn't need to penetrate and sticks to the primer.

You might be more so after the Feast Watson 250ml Sanding Sealer, which is used to fill timber grain and achieve an ultra-smooth surface once your topcoat stain, varnish, or combo has been applied. The Feast Watson Sanding Sealer is not exactly the same as a timber conditioner but serves a similar purpose. It's designed to seal the wood's surface, providing a smooth finish by filling in pores before applying a top coat. This can help ensure an even application of stain or varnish, much like a conditioner, but it’s typically used to create a smoother surface for sanding rather than strictly for stain absorption control.

I'm not aware of a conditioner that specifically deals with colour absorption, but I know that they are readily used overseas in the U.S. Let me tag @Brad and @r23on to see if they have any suggestions.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Mitchell

[Brad]

I would use the sanding sealer.

Some people use a weak pva glue or super glue as a sealer but the finish would sit on top of seal

Timbermate filler can be watered down to be an end grain filler.

Wood stabilisation is an option but it may not let a stain in after curing.

I could find some more options if needed.