Gel Wood Stains

I wish to stain plywood. I have found the water based stains e.g. Wattyl give a blotchy appearance to the timber. (Oil based stains are not recommended on plywood) I just tried the Wattyl wood gel on a scrap piece of plywood and it came up a treat without blotching and also filled in the open grain of the plywood face. However, the range of colors in this product is limited and did not have the desired stain I was after (Rosewood). I rang Wattyl today and was told that they are not continuing this line in production after December this year. I guess it didn't sell. Pity, it works famously on plywood. My question is who else does a gel wood stain in Australia. Cabots don't list one which is not surprising as they also don't sell their wood conditioner here in Australia either.

I am aware that gel stains sit on the surface of wood unlike the traditional stains which soak in, however on plywood it appears to work better.

I gather with 90 reads and no replys there is no alternative gel stains in Australia. Has anyone else used the Wattyl wood gel? If I get the same response that might explain why its going out of production. LOL

Not sure if this is what you are actually after but.........

I have successfully stained ply using a spirit stain - Feast Watson Prooftint, the stain is used over the top of Prooftint Pine Sealer which allows the stain to even out and reduces blotchyness. Get hold of the Feast Watson booklet "Timber Finishers & Stains" which is available from most hardware/paint stores.

Follow the directions carefully and providing you have a quality ply - furniture grade rather than construction grade - prepare it well then you should get a good result - that being said - try it on a sample before you tackle your major project.

The only deviation from the FW book I do is to use Minwax wipe on poly as the top coat rather than their Satinproof/Glossproof. Using their products you can of course add Prooftint stain to their products to create your own one step stain/varnish if this is the way you choose to go.

Regards,
Bob