MDF wood paint or Stain it ??

[paul mathews]

Just made a few speaker stands. I would like to stain them to blend in with the rest of the furntutre i have. But how do i do it. I know i have read you sand it once and then put some sealent on it and sand it again and then repeat a few times.

Is their any special stain i need to buy for MDF. Or any other stuff i need to know. I was going to stain a peice of scrap and see how it turns out with the stain i think what would most fit in and see how that works out before i do anything major.

Thanks for any info.

[sbowler]

Sand then seal with PVA and stain, if you want it darker repeated coats of stain.

[paul mathews]

PVA would be what.And spray or brush it on. New to this building stuff.

Thanks.

[johndon]

PVA is white glue - dilute some in water and brush on.

John

[Spoonboy90]

Originally Posted by sbowler

Sand then seal with PVA and stain, if you want it darker repeated coats of stain.

If you seal with PVA would the stain then not take effect, the idea of stain it to soak into the wood, which wouldnt happen once sealed with PVA or am I wrong?

Originally Posted by johndon

PVA is white glue - dilute some in water and brush on.

John

PVA is Polyvinyl Acetate, its a glue, the white stuff that you used to stick stuff in primary school, its white but drys clear

[Jammyb]

I thought that, surely you'd use PVA if you were painting. For staining I would have thought sand, give it a quick wipe with some white spirit maybe, then stain, repeat if neccessary, then light varnish to seal it. I dunno though, that's just how I'd do it.

[paul mathews]

Well i would like some help from some people that have actally stained some MDF if at all possible

Thanks.

[GasDad]

Originally Posted by paul mathews

Well i would like some help from some people that have actally stained some MDF if at all possible

Thanks.

I have tried it a few years ago (funky kids furniture) and found it near enough impossible to achieve a nice result with normal MDF.

The problem is the smooth face of the boards, this will accept stain in a totally different way to the cut edges and so you end up with different colours. If you want a dark colour, this is probably less of a problem, as you can just soak the stuff in stain repeatedly.

Otherwise, assuming you have cut edges showing (you can probably design so they don't) I would try and seal the edges first with PVA to match the porosity between the edges and the faces.

Experiment on an offcut first perhaps.

I actually gave up and used pre-stained MDF (you get a choice of around 12 colours from memory) which worked well.

James

[mhuk05]

Or use a coloured varnish and apply with a lint-free rag. Sand lightly between coats.

[paul mathews]

I did make some side tables and did as you said and designed it so the cut bits where at the rear and genraly not in sight.

The Speaker stand is a WHOLE different story though. Pretty much impossible to do that with that. But ill experiment and see what kind of horrrrrrible mess i come outwith. Ill post pics so people can laugh at my Obomination


Thanks.

[mhuk05]

You can also try applying your own veneer.

[paul mathews]

I was thinking about veneer. But iam not that great at things like that. I would need some tools as well. I think it would look alo tworse when iam finished with it

Then again how easy is it to apply ?

Thanks.

[mhuk05]

You can get iron-on sheets. All you need is an iron, a big file (to snap off the excess) a blade for any extra trimming and fine sand paper. You use the file at 90 degrees to the edge and use it to remove any excess veneer e.g. run it along the edge of the wood.

[paul mathews]

ILl get some and do a test on some scarp if the stainign dont turn out well

Thanks.

[banners]

In the few times I've used stain on mdf I've done the following:

Sealed the faces and edges with PVA mixed with a little water - 2 parts PVA to 1 part water IIRC. Allow to dry, rub down and repeat to achieve a smooth finish. This should give you a stable surface to work on. I've used a paint brush and a Foam roller to apply this mixture.

Apply your choice of stain or coloured varnish to the now uniform surface. I've mixed various varnishes' to acheive the colour I've wanted. Mix the colour to lighter than you probably want, then apply more coats to get the depth and colour to increase

When happy with the results allow to fully dry and then apply clear varnish if you want to alter the finish from gloss/satin/matt as desired.

I quickly gave up on trying to create a 'grain' to the surface

Steve