I needed to match some oak tables to existing furniture in the living room, and ran across this, whilst at my locally-owned hardware store, hoping to find Bartley's Gel stain.
Having seen it advertised, and seeing that it's reasonably priced, and seeing that the picture on the advertising causes unreasonable hope that it will look better than the junk in the yellow cans, I lay down my $8.97 plus
8 1/2% premium for the privilege of living in the SF Bay Area, and drag a can home, to try on scrap.(Note that I could have spent 50 cents for a plastic ketchup packet sized sample, but that would have made more sense...)
Using this on red oak, red oak plain-sliced veneer (lumber core) plywood, and white oak (qs, mdf core) plywood, this product seems like a winner. Almost like a dye stain - really low on solids. Doesn't pretend to be a finish, like the yellow can product. Dries quickly. Takes an oil as the next layer pretty well - at least the Watco I wiped on the sample boards.
The next test is to topcoat the sample boards with Waterlox Original, and see how that goes. A simple and painless finish would be nice for a change.
Patriarch, who really doesn't have the space or patience to spray...