General Finishes Water Based Wood Stain, 1 Quart, Walnut

This stain is pricey but worth it-- such a pleasure to work with. As a carpenter I've used a lot of oil based stuff through the years. This water based stain is much quicker for cleaning brushes. It also stirs quickly. The color is as rich as a traditional stain. Also easy on your nose as the smell is neutral and fume-free. Just remember it is stain only. It will need a couple finish coats to achieve a protective layer as well as sheen. The black cherry color achieves the feel of an aging ship or a colonial home with aged pine.

Excellent product. Used it to stain my desktop.

If your not familiar with general finishes do some research BEFORE purchasing so you understand what your doing and how this stain works! Tips: stir, stir, stir, stir, stir, stir, stir and STIR! It comes very thick and chunky. This is normal. Do not use steel wool (small steel will get embedded and rust over time) this is a WATER based stain. Finish with a top coat. GF high performance flat is amazing. This product is thick and not like traditional stain. The color is amazing and prior to the grey stone color, very difficult to achieve. Applying will wet the wood during application and may look odd but TRUST it will dry beautiful. This color looks like it came straight out of the Homegoods Store. I used to have to use 3 stains and a spécific technique to get this color. Packaged with care. I've had issues with GF arriving exploded in the past but this seller clearly knew how to ship stain. The metal rim peices secure the lid.

Trust me, I am not very knowledgeable about staining and finishing wood, but this stuff really made me look good. I tried several products on the underside to see if they had that dark rich walnut color I wanted and this was the clear winner. Use it liberally and be patient, don’t try to do it all in one day. Use some good quality all cotton rags to wipe off the excess and whatever you do, don’t wait too long and let it dry! Get the excess off before it dries or you won’t like it. I put two coats on liberally and wiped as soon as I got to the other end. After a day of drying I used General finishes Satin Poly on it and the results made it look like I actually knew what I was doing. Great product. Will buy again and again. So glad they have it on Amazon because my Lowe’s and Home Depot didn’t.

Bought this graphite water base stain 4/28/25 removed clips and opened can 9/17/25, found a black rubbery mass surrounded in a beige liquid. G.F. apparently no longer has a customer service phone # and passed return time with amazon. Be careful with this one. Also, the walnut stain just black die. hope its GF water-based products that are just failing. I still love the seal a cell, and armour seal. Maybe I'll try the oil-based stains. Water based are TERIBLE.

I used this stain on my new mantle, built by my husband. I wanted something dark in color that would also provide for color variance so as not to look too perfect or uniform (We were going for the rustic, re-purposed beam look). I applied to the wood using a rag and was immediately happy with the results! As opposed to other stains where multiple coats are needed, we only had to do 1 coat. If you wanted a very dark and uniform color throughout, two coats should do the trick. Since this stain is water based, I then took a damp rag and ran it over some places on the mantle. This thinned the stain and provided the most perfect (and purposely in-perfect!) color variation. My husband and I do a lot of DIY projects, and thus try out many products along the way. I can confidently say this is one of the easiest stains we have ever used. It allowed us to really be in control, which is something I certainly look for in a product like this. The stain itself comes out matte, so if you're looking for a finish with some sheen, you would want to purchase a topcoat of sorts. Additionally, we used hardly ANY product! We have more than enough left over to stain the ceiling beams we're building to match....and then some. A little of this stuff seriously goes a long way.

Functionality: Better product with ease of use covers well

I've used General Finishes products for years. They are great. Always uniform color consistency so if I run out, and have to get other can to finish something, there is no worry the color will be off. I don't notice any smell with the water based. I've used the oil based version, and like the water based better just for ease of cleanup since I am genetically incapable to completing any project without making a mess.

It is not a gel stain. It is a water base stain

Needed to stain a wall and door therefore was after the GEL STAIN because it does not drip as easily as ordinary stain. Received a notice stating that the gel was not available and assumed I would get a refund. OH NO!! They just decided to send whatever they had on hand to get the sale hoping that I would not send it back because of the international post!!!!!!!! Well they were right!!!

I bout this item a few months ago for a project, and i kept it inside the house so it would be in a stable temperature, but when i opened it it was a solid block in a liquid. Completely useless. My first time buying this brand, i have other brands that are still good after years of opening them.

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Love this product goes on so easy, absorbs well into the wood. Nice colour. Easy clean up.