Pyrography technique or wood burning can give your wooden project a unique design. But many beginner woodworkers have hesitations about which finishes they can use to avoid potentially damaging their project.
We understand this dilemma, so our woodworking team will share if you can stain over wood burning and other alternatives you can try.
Can You Apply Stain After Wood Burning?
If you want put some color to enhance your pyrography project’s wood grain and the art itself, you can certainly stain it.
Staining after wood burning gives your design a more polished and smooth finish while accentuating the details. You can use light shades of stain to mix with the burnt effect of the pyrography designs.
We also stain the wood after designing it, because burning stained wood creates toxic chemical fumes which are harmful to your health and the environment. Not to mention, stained wood is more flammable than bare wood.
Therefore, we strongly recommend staining it after wood burning by following our exact steps.
How to Stain Wood Burning
Although art enthusiasts usually only consider sealing wood burning, staining emphasizes the pyrography designs. Here’s how you would stain after wood burning.
Supplies You Will Need
- Wood stain product (Light shades)
- Wood conditioner (Pre-stain)
- Paintbrush
- Sandpaper (higher grit)
- Tack cloth
- Rags
- Gloves
- Mask
Step #1: Clean and Prepare the Surface
Wear gloves and a mask before cleaning and preparing the burnt wood. Then, get your wood-burning project and ensure the burnt design is cool already.
Remove burnt wood particles from the surface using a clean rag or a dust collection pipe system to clean thoroughly. The surface should have no dirt or any impurities before staining.
If you can see the evident wood grain or raised wood fibers on the surface, lightly sand the surface using 220 or 320 grit.
Sanding the wood surface will create an even and consistent absorption of stain. An unsanded surface could create tacky surfaces, streaks, and blotches formation.
Step #2: Condition Your Wood
It is time to condition your wood after sanding. Use a pre-stain similar to your stain products for a better result. Wood conditioning is essential to your wood-burning project to ensure that stains are spread equally and evenly on the entire surface.
To apply pre-stain, use a paintbrush and work along the direction of the wood grain for quick absorption. Leave the wood for at least a minute for better absorption.
Step #3: Apply Your Chosen Wood Stain
Apply your preferred stain using the paintbrush. Our experts recommend using a lighter shade of stain to emphasize the lines of your burn wood project. Also, it is better to apply thin coats of stain for each layer and brush along the direction of the wood grain.
Avoid putting pressure on your paintbrush while staining so you won’t get any marks because the high pressure creates deep color covering the burned lines. The maximum coats should be two layers for better results.
After you have achieved your desired stain, wipe off the excess stain using a clean, lint-free tack cloth. Removing the stains prevent streaks and blotches and creates a glossier burn wood project.
Step #4: Let the Wood Surface Dry and Cure
After the last layer of your stain, let it dry for 24 hours to dry and cure it for a couple of days to see the color of your stain over your wood-burning project.
The Best Stains For Wood Burning
The best stains for wood-burning projects are gel and water-based to prolong your wood and enhance the burning lines. The following are the best stains:
- Varathane Charred Wood Accelerator (Water-based)
- Furniture Clinic Wood Stain (Water-based)
- General Finishes Wood Stain (Water-based)
- General Finishes Gel Stain
- Minwax Gel Stain
The Best Sealants for Wood Burning After Staining
Here are some quality sealant options you can use:
- Lacquer
- Furniture wax
- Mod podge or Hard coat
- Polycrylic
- Polyurethane
- Resin
- Shellac
- Spar urethane
- Tru oil
- Tung oil
Sealing your stained burnt wood to add a protective layer is essential because stain only enhances its physical appearance.
There are many ways to apply wood sealants, such as the spray-on and brush-on methods.
Spray-on method takes less time to apply but is more expensive than a paintbrush, and you need to have the skill in application. While the brush-on method is cost-efficient and easier to control than spray paint [1] but takes longer to dry.
Also, you can have different finishes depending on your desire, such as matte for a dull finish, satin for a velvety look with a bit of shine, semi-gloss for a slight gloss but not shiny, and gloss for the most lustrous look.
Tips & Tricks On Applying Stain on Top of Wood Burning
Here are the proven tips and tricks on applying stain on top of the wood burning from our team of pro woodworkers:
- Decide what type of stain finish you want and ensure you stain the entire surface.
- Don’t forget to let your stain dry for a few minutes before wiping off the excess stain using a clean, lint-free cloth.
- For more pronounced effects, leave the stain for at least 15 minutes before removing the excess stain. However, this procedure might cover the burnt lines of your design because of the darker shade of stain.
- If you want to enhance the tones and hues of your wood-burning project, you can lightly sand the stain. Sand carefully and long the wood grain pattern.
- You can also sand back for crispier edges of your burnt wood designs before staining.
- For better results, get scrap wood to practice pyrography and staining.
- When doing pyrography, work in a well-ventilated area and ensure fire extinguishers or a bucket of water is nearby.
- Avoid working on windy days to prevent fire on your burning wood projects, and wear personal protective equipment before working.
Should You Burn Wood Before Or After Staining?
We recommend burning, sanding, then staining your project. However, you have the option to interchange sanding before burning or vice versa, but you should not skip sanding.
Sanding is important after you create a unique burnt design, and it will also help your wood absorb the better stain.
Regardless of the imperfections on your wood, sanding resolves issues of any woodworker about raised grain, dirt, grease, splinters, and deep grooves.
You may also be wondering if you can stain before the wood-burning project.
This procedure is dangerous and the same as burning treated or painted lumber. Aside from it can cause accidents, the fumes coming from burned stained wood are toxic both to your health and the environment.
Also, the wood will burn beyond what you desire on your project because stained wood can be easily burned, and once a mistake has been made in pyrographic woodworking, there is no turning back.
Therefore, you must create your burning wood designs before sanding and staining.
Should You Sand After Wood Burning?
Sanding is essential to wood preparation before staining or painting your wood and creating your unique burning-wood designs. It accentuates the burnt lines, which make an aesthetic look after staining it.
Also, sanding the surface of your wood creates better and more consistent absorption for your stain.
Conclusion
Now, you can stain over wood burning without the dilemma that something might get wrong with your wood project. Ensure to follow our steps on staining your burnt wood, otherwise, you will start again from scratch.
Back then, pyrography could be tricky, and choosing the right shade for it was challenging, but you can stain the wood-burning project perfectly.
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