Staining Alder #2: Wood Conditioning / Blotch Control
First of all – anyone who has ever dealt with Alder will tell you that it blotches like crazy. It does. I can confirm that. If you wipe on any stain on the bare wood it will blotch significantly, and unpredictably. Unlike other types of wood like maple, where often there are tell-tale signs of where the wood will blotch (grain variations, etc.) Alder offers no hints. You just put on the stain and the next thing you know, you have cow patches all over your board. So that sucked. I tried several of the tips to get around the blotching, and I found that the best route for me was: Washcoat (thinned finish), followed by Gel stain (oil based) That did the trick for me. I a...
