20 Best Gel Stain For Cabinets (2022 Updated)

LOVE! I love this gel stain. You see it all over social media and I fell for it and finally tried it. Glad I did. It is super easy to use. I had a 30 year old, very blonde (almost yellow) oak table and chairs set.

I still like the set, I just hate the color. It was abused and beat and looked like trash so I figured I had nothing to lose. Sorry about the photo, it was the best “after” shot I could find. I literally took a piece of 180 grit sandpaper and spent about 30 minutes quickly running it over the surface of a 60×72 table with ornamental legs, and 6 spindle back chairs.

I went quick, and haphazard and just wanted to scuff the surface, but not really sand it other than to try and get out a pen mark on the table. I did not remove the poly coat or anything. I wiped the bit of dust off and proceeded with an old sock over 2 gloves, yes 2.

I then wiped the gel on all surfaces, nooks and crannies and wiped it in as I went, left no wet edges and let it dry over night. The next day I did the same thing because I wanted it a bit darker. I followed up with a Minwax satin topcoat because I did not want glossy and I did not like the General Finished Top Coat.

I am so happy with the result. I also used the same color on some cherry night stands. For those I painted on one good coat to keep it opaque and they are gorgeous! I’m going to do my whole bed set and it doesn’t even look like the same set.

Super easy to use, do not be afraid of it like some social sites tell you. It is very user friendly as well as beginner friendly. I just wish it was easier to find in a store in my town, I have to order it online.

I’ver used this on several projects in my home, including changing the look of my kitchen cabinets. People began asking me if I had new cabinets installed. Beautiful. Used sponge brushes to apply. Went on easily.

Very pleased. The General Finishes stuff has a good reputation anyway and it’s easy to see why. I always try to use their stuff if they have an option that matches my current project.

It’s definitely a stain and not a paint, or actually it’s more like a dye. But as a stain, applied and wiped off, it’s wonderful. If it’s not wiped off, everything above the stained substrate can be removed with water.

This means that a coat of urethane or varnish will temporarily protect it but if water gets in through a scratch or scuff it will bloom and color will come out. (note that if you are using an acrylic i.

e. watersoluble coating, it can smear the Unicorn Spit when you are applying it, so be careful about that) Just something to keep in mind.

It’s great!!! Really vibrant color to add just enough bold look to a normal boring project. But it didn’t work for what I wanted to use it on glass beads for a chandelier and still have light shine through them but its not translucent like I hoped it would be.

anyone know a product I could use on glass that’s bright colors and still able to have light shine thru? Like a stained glass window paint. ? I could use any suggestions please and thank you.

Amazing stain. You control the amount of color right on the wood itself with water. This is one great product. Allows you to get creative and achieve some very colorful wood stains that you can never get out of a oil based can of minwax.

This is a plain purple pool stick holder I made. but you can really get creative.

The pigment is really great and bright. I used it on sanded wood and diluted the color with just water drops for my taste. Undiluted the color might be pigmented enough to give an effect like paint (but I wanted to see the wood grain).

This purple has a balance between blue and red tones where I was able to warm it up with additional red pigment or leave it leaning cool as is. The color is great and the cost is great considering how powerful the pigmentation is, in my opinion.

It dries with a whitish cast like a pastel look, and I personally sealed with Exterior 450 gloss for my table and that made the color more finished, but also muted the tone and darkened the color. Just something to consider.

I have used Unicorn Spit for nearly 6 months and cannot imagine a project without it now. I am so glad to see Joann’s now carrying it. It’s a gel stain for wood, a fabulous color enhancing glaze for chalk painted furniture and crafts, it’s turns plain glass into colorful art pieces, and it’s fabulous on canvas and fabrics.

This is a water based, non-toxic, dilutable product that smells like jasmin. There are no fumes, just some amazing aroma therapy to go with your arts and crafting therapy. There is a wonderful Facebook community that shares and supports using Unicorn Spit.

The inspirations never stop and questions are answered from those who’ve actually used this product. There are so many How to videos on You Tube and Facebook to help get you going. I LOVE it. I create gifts with Unicorn Spit and I give it as a gift too.

Hours of enjoyment and unique creative fun. I wish they would sell this stuff in gallon sized bottles!.

It was the last bottle they had and it was the perfect color for the deer antler ring I made for my fiance. He loves the color orange and this glides on smooth and doesn’t look cakey and flake off. It needed a couple coats but was amazing and I know he’s gonna love his wedding ring.

Michaels was the only store I was able to find unicorn spit.

I have used this product for over a year and I am still amazed at what it can do. I have used it on wood furniture, vases, glass, canvas, fabric and even my sneakers! The sky is the limit! You can use it full strength but it works really well mixed with water.

A little goes a really long way. To get a lovely, three dimensional finish it is recommended that you use a oil based sealant. There are a LOT of resources on line too. There are you-tube video tutorials, some made by the amazing inventor of the product.

You can also access Pinterest, Hometalk, and the wonderful, supportive group called ‘Unicorn Spit Gel Stain Q&A’ on Facebook. Join us and get your spit on!.

Not a very consistent product on its own. Medium to larger projects require additives, but are sold separately. Sometimes the project comes out great the first shot, sometimes it takes a redo or two.

I see other reviewers that had the same issue even with extender. Oil based stains work far better and don’t require all the fancy additives to get a consistently good and even stain. I’ve been on the fence with this stain.

Smaller projects it can be flawless. Larger projects. I have to say the Lord’s Prayer, Hail Mary, and all kinds of prayers in hopes that it works 😅Sooooo back to oil based stains!.

So this review is not a dig on general finishes. They make great products. Some I swear by. This is not one of them. On bare oak, especially right angles and raised panel doors, almost impossible to get great results which are automatic with oil based.

Raises the grain, dries so fast you have no time to work it out without streaks and blotches. Also does not penetrate worth a dam and leaves very slight grain marks that did not take the stain. I’m an experienced wood worker and have always used oil based stain with stellar results.

After this project is done, I will never use water based again. I’ll deal with the odor and extra time to get good results. Woodwork is a labor of love and worth some extra time.

This stuff was infuriating because its not like oil based where you wipe it on and then wipe it off and have all the time in the world. I tried doing a 36″x47″ panel with this and first i tried hand applying then wipe off and it was already dry so i had no time to wipe off.

Failed. Then i tried spraying from my Fuji Q5 to increase speed and wipe off, again dried too fast and failed. 3rd test i did was fhe magic ticket. Spray it on thin but coat it all and DONT TOUCH IT, and it turns out fantastic, although very dark.

So the key with this stuff is dont listen to can instructions and basically treat it like paint.

Unicorn Spit is different than anything you’ve ever used. Can be used alone or mixed with any medium. The color blending is amazing! It is water based, very concentrated so it lasts a long time & a little bit goes a very long way.

I am NOT an artist but this stuff makes me feel like I am. My pieces turn out beautiful every time! Once it’s dry, just wet your brush & maybe spray a little water on your project, and boom…it’s reactivated & allows you to continue working with it until you’re satisfied.

Dries super quick, then SPRAY (not brush because it can smear your colors) with an OIL based sealer & done! For a glossy, dramatic look, brush on 2-3 coats of Polyurethane once the oil-based sealer has dried.

YOU’LL love it!!!.

I’ve never used a colored gel stain before and this was extremely easy to get the results close to what I wanted, considering it was the 1st time using it. Blended great with other the other colors, very forgiving and gives a good amount of work time.

A little goes a long way. It can be a very soft pastel to very vibrant. Will be looking for more colors for sure.

I do a lot of woodworking projects and love building furniture. I tend to use Minwax stains and varnishes to finish all of my projects. However, this is the first time I’ve had a chance to use a gel stain.

I used this stain to finish a side table I’ve been working on and I opted for the Cherrywood color. I’m very pleased at how easy it was to apply – I just used a cloth to wipe it on. The wood took it up quite easily and I didn’t get any blotching.

I like that I didn’t get any runs, so the color actually turned out to be more uniform than I usually get with a cloth application. The color is nice and rich and cleanup was very easy using a bit of olive oil and soap (or just use mineral spirits if you’ve got it handy).

Overall, I’m very pleased with his gel stain from Minwax!.

Applied ‘slate’ gel stain to a brand new piece of furniture and it covered horribly! After first coat most of the natural wood look was still showing. Had to purchase another 8 oz can just to do a second coat which still did not fully cover the wood.

Project was very tacky to rub off no matter if I waited three minutes or ten minutes to wipe it off. I would have been better off using paint if I knew it would take three coats to cover. The product feels like your attempting to apply ten year old paint that has partially hardened.

Will never use gel stain again and may never use a min wax protect every again.

I would describe my home as having a contemporary industrial rustic look— modern designs utilizing dark woods and rough unfinished metal. However, some of my pieces of furniture and accents that I’ve acquired throughout the years do not fit into this decor, so they have languished idly in storage.

When I received this Minwax Gel Stain, I immediately tested it on a pair of end tables that originally came in a very light beech color. This product was straightforward and very user friendly. I applied the stain with a foam applicator brush.

There was minimal dripping, and I felt that I could control it much better than traditional stains. I followed the instructions (wait 8-10 hours) before applying a second coat the next day. I was pleased with the overall finished look, but I think it could be a bit darker.

I felt that I used up more of the product than I had anticipated, but it did yield a natural and even look, which had been my primary concern.

This product renewed my antique maple furniture – there was so much damage to the wood i thought i would have to have it professionally refinished. This product REALLY works and saved me a lot of money and it was so simple to use and not messy like some stains.

A little goes a long way. I will be purchasing additional stain colors for all my wood furniture!.

Was sent a badly leaking bottle. Leaked so bad the top was flooded with the brown stain. Unable to return due to postal restrictions. Who would send a leaking bottle to a paying customer?—an irresponsible seller, that’s who.

Will not buy from seller again and will look elsewhere. Buyer beware.

Very good product. I managed to get great result when I used it. Pity I didn’t discover gel stains sooner, it could have prevented some disasters. Another added bonus with this product is that you can also use it as paint to achieve a different look.

I bought this to use on floating shelves I made, thinking it perfectly matched our new flooring. I was just going off of the colour on the can. Way off. Our floors are a nice rich walnut colour with lots of highlights and lowlights, but nothing this dark.

This stain looks like melted milk chocolate in the can but applies about as dark as fully roasted coffee beans. Is it really that hard to take an honest photo of the product and put that on the label? What’s the point of even having an image for reference? Totally stupid, can’t undo it, now what.

Besides that, it’s a fine stain product I guess. If you want to compare with something, I recommend asking a home depot staff to let you do a sample blotch on your material from a small can. Otherwise you’re truly guessing and you’re going to be wrong.

This stain is very easy to apply and this is why I like it. Use a rag to apply light coats and away you go. I find oil based stains bring grain patterns out very nicely. The look is striking but natural.

The price is good too.

This color in exterior gel stain is hard to find. (cedar). And I only wanted gel stain because I am staining over pressure treated wood and this was exactly what I was looking for. I’m thrilled with the results and ease of use! A tad pricey, but worth every penny.

I’ve used other brands in exterior gel stain, and like them as well, but not all colors are readily available and Old Masters seems to cover it all. The ease of having it delivered was also a plus. It was well packaged and quick delivery.

I will definitely buy this again!.

I have used multiple quarts of this stuff in the American Walnut color. It does an amazing job to change up golden oak to a beautiful rich walnut color in cabinets, mantels, stair rails and the bar stools I just applied it to.

Thanks Max Warehouse for carrying this!!!.

This thick stain makes a quality wipe on effect, truly white. Coated it with a water based clear matte polyurethane.

I like the product, because it is easy to work with. It does a good job in covering the wood. I would recommend it for someone that does their own staining of wood.

Fun colors and easy to apply. I wanted to paint with stain by rubbing it on and that technique did not work.

These are beautiful colors that really enhance a wood project

Hard to find in stores. Happy that Michaels has it in stock.