An insight on Wood Stains from Professional Surrey Painters: Oil Stains versus Water-Based Stains

1. An insight on Wood Stains from Professional Surrey Painters: Oil Stains versus Water- Based Stains The phrase “Wood Stain” is commonly used by professional painters to differentiate between giving wood projects a slight difference in colour but leaving the main substrate visible to keep its natural beauty and texture, versus completely covering up the substrate with a colour such as a full coat of paint. Wood stains are very common for restoring old wooden projects, both indoor and outdoor such as updating old fences, roofs, house siding, sprucing up patio furniture for the coming summer season, making your deck pop again and so on!

2. Wood stains offer beautiful finishes to your home projects, whether it be interior or exterior but it is important to choose the right product for you. Brushfire Painting Co. prides itself on being experts in all things Paint & Stain, which is why as professional painters we want to help educate our clients on the differences between oil stains and water-based stains. Did you know that pigments and dyes are both used in wood stains? But the difference between the two comes down to the type of solubility and size of particles within the product - generally they are identified based on whether they are suspended within the stain (also known as the “vehicle”) or dissolved within. Can you guess which one is which? As you are likely not a professional painter, allow us to explain further! Pigments are the larger molecules within paint stains that do not dissolve into the vehicle (remember earlier, this refers to the applicant product - the stain). Contrary to pigments are the dyes which are smaller molecules and dissolve into the vehicle - but what does this mean for application and finishing of wood stains? Dye versus pigment concentration with stains usually determine the finish of the stain, whereas stains with a heavy dye content will dry to a more transparent finish, stains with heavy pigment concentration will finish with a more solid, or opaque look. Both can be beautiful finishes if applied correctly, and as professional painters ourselves we highly recommend using Brushfire Painting Co. to get that storybook finish you are visualizing as our team has the technical knowhow and experience to apply wood stains correctly the first time. As professional Surrey Painters, Brushfire Painting Co. has all the necessary knowledge and expertise to help you choose the best type of stain for your project. If you are interested in learning more about the types of stains available and their uses, have a read below: Oil Stain: The most commonly used stains are oil stains, due to their hard finish and protection from the elements that can otherwise break down the substrate coatings. Binders within oil stains also give professional painters more time to work with the coating, because the linseed oils within the stain allow for painters to remove any excess stain during application before the project has time to dry, which would otherwise leave long rain-drop like streaks. Oil stains are very potent, and as professional Surrey Painters, we would always recommend to wear a mask to prevent yourself from breathing in the harsh volatile compounds that are commonly found in this type of stain when applying it for a job. Not only can oil stains be potent when open, the solvents used to clean it up are also quite harsh - such as turpentine or acetone. Water-Based Stain: A lot less harmful than oil stains, water-based stains are now a very popular choice among professional painters as they pollute less, have a much easier cleanup process and are less harmful/irritating to be around as they do not have the strong pungent smell that is common with oil stains due to the compounds used. Water-based stains replace most of the organic thinner from oil based stains with water, which is why they are less polluting and easier to work with. As professional Surrey Painters we

3. highly recommend using a water-based stain because in case of any mistakes you may make during your project, you only need to use water to clean them up unlike oil based stains where you would be required to purchase extra products like turpentine. However, using water-based stains may come at a cost depending on your skill level in application. This is because water is known to raise the grains of wood and unlike oil stains, water based stains tend to dry much quicker - which is why we always recommend hiring professional painters, such as Brushfire Painting Co. who can apply wood stains that will meet your expectations. If you choose to tackle projects yourself though, keep in mind that there are products available that help you extend the lifetime of the water-based stain you’re working with. As professional painters, we recommend using a product such as Lacquer Retarder to help increase the working time of your water-based stain but unfortunately this product adds solvent to the product and defeats the idea of working with/reducing exposure to harmful solvents. One tip that we as professional painters like to offer is this: when working with water-based stains on large projects, have a person trail you who can wipe of the excess stain to reduce the amount of rain-drop streaks left on the substrate. This will leave you with more time to focus on properly covering the project and you will not have to do both parts of the job yourself! Of course, there are many other types of lesser known wood stains out there for specialty projects such as: varnish stain, gel stain, lacquer stain and metalized dye stain but they are much less commonly used and likely not applicable for larger projects. However, if you have a project that you think would require one of these other types of stains please consult a local professional painting company such as Brushfire Painting Co. to ensure you select the correct one for the job. If you do not have the time to tackle your painting projects alone, contact us today and receive a free quote from the Brushfire Painting team! Contact Brad (778) 846-2723 or Riley (604) 813-6249 to receive your free quote today. Don’t have time to hop on a call? Email us at: brushfirepaintingco@gmail.com