Kitchen Hutch Update

So I had some left over General Finishes Java gel stain so I thought I would do a quick update on a hutch that is in our kitchen. I had redone this hutch and our kitchen table several years ago, using Annie Sloan chalk paint and Clear Wax. The table had a darker top and I decided to make the top of the hutch finally match. It only took me several years to get around to it. As it turned out, this was not such a quick update as I had originally anticipated.

Materials Used for This Project

General Finishes Gel Stain Java
SurfPrep 3”x4” Electric Ray Sander
Dewalt Orbital Sander
Krud Kutter

Preparation

I first cleaned the top with Krud Kutter. That got rid of dirt and such but did not get rid of the wax that may have been left on it. I should have gone over it with mineral spirits. My mistake. I then sanded the top down to bare wood using both my Dewalt orbital sander and my Surfprep sander. However I did not notice any wax residue on my sandpaper so there may not have been much wax left after several years. But I could have sanded any remaining wax into the top, presenting a possible contaminant for the gel stain.

Painting

I didn’t have any of the original Annie Sloan chalk paint left that I used on the kitchen table top. I did have left over General Finishes Gel Stain in the color Java and decided to use it since the color was so close. I also could have used regular stain and I will comment on that later. I painted on the gel stain and then wiped it down until I had the color I was looking for. As it started to dry, I noticed a couple of spots I wanted to fix. Honestly, I think I was being a little too picky and in hindsight should have stopped while I was ahead. So I decided to apply a second coat after it had dried. Dry time is one of the issues of using gel stain. I let it dry overnight and put the second coat on after it had dried for about 16 hours. 24+ hours would have been better, which is what my wife believes in; more is better! When I applied the second coat and was wiping it off, I went through the first coat. It was like the stain was acting as a solvent, so I don’t think I waited long enough for the first coat to dry. I did contact General Finishes and they thought that there might be wax residue left over since I didn’t wipe it down with mineral spirits. Lesson learned, but like I said before, I didn’t see any wax residue on the sand paper, so I am inclined to think it was not completely dry. When all said and done, what I thought was going to take me a couple of hours ended up taking three days to complete due to having to apply multiple coats in some places to fix rubbing through and removing some of the previous finish and having to redo and then waiting on it to dry again.

My Thoughts on Gel Stain

I will admit that I have only two experiences in using gel stain. The first, and the reason I bought it in the first place was to repair a kitchen table chair leg that our dog and used as a chew toy. I sanded the leg down to bare wood and then applied wood filler to the areas of the leg the dog had chewed. I used regular stain and then realized that the wood filler repair was not going to take the stain very well. I purchased the gel stain to try and overcome this, since the gel stain basically sits on top instead of being absorbed. So in that case, the gel stain was going over an existing finish. I was able to apply one coat and get the color to match almost exactly. You have to look hard to tell between the leg I had repaired and legs with no repairs.

In the case of the hutch top, I was applying gel stain to bare wood. In hindsight, and in the future, I will use regular stain. In my opinion, the dry time is a real issue. In the time it takes for the gel stain to dry, I can have several coats of regular stain applied and possibly the first coat of poly. If I am just trying to alter the color of an existing stained finish, and I don’t want to paint it, I might use gel stain again. Even with a longer dry time, it might be less overall effort using the gel stain rather than sanding down to bare wood. It will depend on the look I am trying to achieve.

The Finished Product

But at the end of the day, I accomplished what I set out to do and now the hutch top matches the kitchen table top. Hope my wife likes it since she was out of town when I did this. Surprise!