Wood filler is an excellent material which you can use to fill any cavity that may occur on a furniture surface due to natural wear and tear conditions or unintended abrasions. Applying a wood filler to a cracked or holed wood surface is simple and hardly can anyone notice the use of a wood filler on a piece of furniture it is applied beautifully.

Meanwhile, some wood fillers may distinctly stand out from the main wood material if they are not stained accordingly to match the color appearance of the main wood. Applying a stain to a filler is a step which you should be concerned with if you are repairing holed or cracked furniture surface using a wood filler – instead of calling a professional to do the job, you can do it all by yourself and still end up with amazing results.

Preparing for the task

Just as anyone would expect with any do it yourself task, all the tools needed for the job must be amply available so that you don’t experience unnecessary frustrations of job stops just because there is no tool to move you to the next step.

Applying a stain to a wood filler is a task that hardly requires many materials – you just need to shop for the right wood filler stain and making sure that you are in possession of important utilities such as light foam brush and a pair of gloves for handling the staining agent.

Picking the right stain for the task is where the catch is since it may be difficult to get a stain whose color matches that of the parent furniture. Again, any stain agent you pick must be compatible with the wood material you intend to use it on. Assuming that you settle for a wrong wood filler staining agent, then you can imagine the frustration of the agent slowly fading and giving an odd look to your furniture.

Here is how you can jump over that hurdle – keenly analyze and only shop for the best stain that has the right color matching properties that can complement the parent wood material.

Cleaning the wood filler section

Make sure that the parent wood section repaired by a filler is free from dirt such as soil particles or any compound that can prevent the stain from rightfully bonding with the wood filler. Wash the wood filler surface with a reasonably good amount of water after which you should let the section to dry.

If no prior cleaning is done, dirt such as fine debris may prevent the applied stain from consistently bonding with the wood filler material. Therefore, it would be a wise idea to use a fine-grit sandpaper to smoothen the wood filler surface and ensure that any possible dirt is removed.

You can use an air compressor to blow away sawdust and have a guarantee of a clean surface. In instances where a wood filler is stained with paint, you can use a suitable solvent to get rid of such dirt – the main point is to ensure that the surface you intend to apply a wood filler stain is left clean.

Applying the stain

Different stains have instructions on how they should be properly used and you can get such information from their accompanying labels. It is a good practice to thoroughly shake a stain before applying it since that will ensure that you get a consistent stain solution to work with.

You can gently use a light foam brush to apply the stain you have to the wood filler surface – the stain should be applied uniformly so that you can get a color match which is consistent with that of the parent wood. A foam brush ensures that a stain is evenly spread on the working surface. Use a piece of cloth to remove any excess stain that may be left on the wood filler surface.

After that, let the surface to dry for some minutes under the right lighting conditions. Wood filler stains are light sensitive and wrong lighting conditions may cause them to slowly discolor, a situation you may not want to experience. Assuming that the stain has dried accordingly, you can proceed to use your furniture as you intend.

Author Bio:

My name’s Danny L. Montgomery. I’m the founder and owner of the blog zukzik.com. I love all things DIY & Home Decor. I hope I will be able to share my experiences with the interested readers.