Hello--
I'm in sort of bind, and maybe one of you would know the answer. I've been staining my downstairs cabinets with mahagony gel stain from minwax (wood is oak). In any case, when I first started doing it I read the wrong instructions on the can (did the fiberglass door ones, had never seen a can of stain with multiple ways to apply it). Instead of wiping it off, I brushed it on thinly and then let it dry. The result is a color pretty close to matching what it's supposed to be with a few light spots.
I did all the cabinets a few months ago and thought nothing of it (was waiting for countertop to come in). When I started to do the side panels that attach to the cabinets after the countertop came in, I noticed that it wasn't turning out as good as the first cabinets, showing more brush strokes and stuff--that's when I noticed that I was supposed to wipe it down after 3 minutes. That's where the issue comes in--I tried the 'real' instructions, and it looks like crap. Instead of mahagony, it comes out looking like a redish medium oak--definitely not dark enough. I've tried additional coats, doesn't seem to really do anything. Any suggestions? I'm pretty frustrated at the whole thing. All I want is the color from my original way without the brush strokes if possible. The brush strokes don't actually look that bad, they kind of add an antiquish look. Thanks. Is there another stain that would work better? If I had to I could strip off what I've done.
Taylor34