Most of you know of my experimenting. Some goes good, some goes not so good.
The thinkked Titebond II and Elmers as finishes went well, and seem to be holding up quite well. I got the Elmers very cheap, which is why I used it, all in all, I prefer Titebond. I also tried some thinned latex paint as a stain. That also seems to be going quite well, and has the added benefit of allowing custom colors to be mixed, if desired.
I had maybe 2 ounces of th thinned Elmers left over, so decided to see how the latex would do as a stain and finish at the same time. Interesting.
I had about an ounce of red latex so put a bit in with the Elmers. Hmm, light pink, that's not good. More red. Pepto Bisom. Also not good. So dumped it all in. After shaking, about the only way I can describe it is what I've heard called coral. Kinda da deep Pepto Bismo color maybe. But, after two coats it darkened up. And after bout 3 costs it looks decent.
But it is not really what I was after. If I stick to using thinned latex as a stain, then using thinned Titebond as a finish, it is much more attractive. Actually one of my tries came up with a very authentic looking mahogany color.
Besides not looking like I wanted, coloring glue as a stain and finish combined would require an additional container for each color. Not good. Much better to just use a small container - used pill containers comes to mind - and mix up a small batch of thinned latex, no more than what is needed at the time, and use it as a stai, and then use the thinned glue as a finish.
Interesting tho. Hmm, that reminds me, I've got some green tea, and I never tried any of that as a stain. I'll have to brew up some and see how it does. The regular tea experiments came out quite well, but haven't had any call to use it since. Very rapid drying, so you can quickly put on multiple coats, and can drink your leftover.
JOAT My memory is not as sharp as it used to be. Also, my memory is not as sharp as it used to be.