What is the difference between pre-stain wood conditioner and a sanding sealer?
Jim writes, “How can you make a pre-stain wood conditioner? How do you make sanding sealer? I know that both are different.”
A pre-stain wood conditioner is used on soft woods like pine, fir, poplar to even out the absorption of the stain. Since softwoods are so porous they will stain unevenly and produce an undesirable finish. The wood conditioner fills in some of the open fibers.
I have never made my own pre-stain wood conditioner. I have always purchased readymade. I prefer to use the Minwax brand.
If you are going to be staining a large amount of softwood at one time, you will want to buy a gallon of the pre-stain wood conditioner. Most of the big box home improvement stores only care the quart size. An alternative place to find it would be at a paint supply store. Check the yellow pages under paint supplies / paint suppliers.
A sanding sealer seals the wood so that the wood will no longer accept any more stain. Polyurethane varnishes are in this category.
When I am varnishing a piece of furniture I will apply the stain. After it has dried, I will apply one coat of water based polyurethane varnish. Let it dry over night. Then take 220 grit sand paper and gently sand the piece smooth. After the varnish is applied it raises up the loose fibers in the wood and it feels very rough. A gentle sanding removes all of the rough stuff.
Brush off and then vacuum off all of the sanding dust. Apply another coat of the varnish. Let it dry. Repeat the sanding again. The first time my father-in-law saw my finishing process he thought that I was sanding off all of the varnish. Nope, I was just sanding off the rough wood fibers.
Then clean up the wood and apply the final coat of varnish. I find this process provides a very smooth finish.
