Most woodworkers would intuitively ask—as if it is second nature to them—if the wood they would use would stain well. Similarly, if you would use poplar wood, it is but natural to ask whether it stains well. However, the answer to this question is—It doesn’t stain well. The reason is that its texture and porosity don’t allow for the effective holding of stain. Besides, when you stain it, the stain gets soaked unevenly. Thus, the resulting finish exhibits dullness and blotches.
Nevertheless, poplar can handle paint well, for it is a paint-grade wood. Besides, the paint would only sit on the wood surface and not penetrate it. It doesn’t soak in compared to stain. Thus, if you consider finishing poplar wood, you might as well paint it.
Why is Poplar Difficult to Stain?
Poplar is an essential wood for manufacturing. It is grown on many plantations for its pulpwood. It is also used for paper manufacturing and as cheap plywood, matchboxes, snowboard core, bow drill hearth, and pallets. However, if you intend to stain it, you better relent, for it is difficult to stain. Besides, you need to practice and have enough patience when staining it. As mentioned above, it absorbs stains unevenly, leading to random blotchiness.
Poplar, although a hardwood, is quite soft as a hardwood because of its lower hardness value compared to other hardwoods. It has a Janka hardness rating of 540 pounds of force (lbf), which is way below that of hard maple’s 1,450 lbf. Since it is not as hard as other hardwoods, it doesn’t carry the remarkable properties of many hardwoods.
Poplar can look excellent when stained. But you must know how to prepare poplar for staining to avoid the random blotchiness afterward. You can produce remarkable results if you prepare it well before staining it.
Poplar has closed grains and narrow pores that you won’t notice immediately. Thus, the stain will have difficulty penetrating through these narrow pores.
Yet, it doesn’t mean you can’t have a workaround with staining poplar. If you know the methods to stain it well, you can produce remarkable staining results afterward.
How Can You Stain Poplar Properly?
Many woodworkers would instead stain other hardwoods than poplar because of the abovementioned characteristics. Besides, poplar usually has color variations and heavy streaks that would appear pale yellow to dark green. Hence, woodworkers often relegate stained or painted poplar to the backdrop or hidden parts of the project. Nevertheless, if you employ the following tips on how to stain poplar, you might produce great results when staining poplar:
Condition the Poplar Wood First Before Staining
If you’re adamant about staining Poplar wood, you might as well apply conditioner to the wood before staining it. Apply the wood conditioner to the bare surface of the wood before applying the stain. You can use thinned varnish to seal the grain of the wood. Once the wood surface gets sealed, you can stain it and expect a more consistent result afterward.
However, the downside of sealing the wood surface using thinned varnish include the wood becoming lighter than other stained wood surface and the stain having difficulty penetrating the wood surface. As such, I would recommend using gel stain for this purpose.
Apply Gel Stains
Resin and mineral spirits combined with colorant make up the thick gel stain. When you open the gel stain can, you will see consistent gel similar to mayonnaise. The gel stain is oil-based, and its thickener provides its shape. The resin keeps the gel’s color on the wood surface, though this resin is translucent. After applying the gel, the wood grain remains visible, but the wood’s original color is not.
The gel—after a single application—will intensify the poplar’s color. You can use red gel to make the poplar look as if it is cherry wood. You can also choose dark brown to render the poplar wood a somewhat walnut look. Nevertheless, you got a wide array of color selections with gel stains. So, you can select the color that pleases you most.
Use Clean Cloth to Apply Stain
Once the poplar is ready, you can use a clean cloth to apply the gel stain. You will see some streaks when you apply the stain. You can remove these streaks using a clean cloth, but do it while the stain has not yet dried.
It will be best to apply the stain using a circular motion to cover the entire place. Let the stain dry for eight hours, and then apply the top coat of your choice. If you prefer a richer look, you can use more coats. Yet, I think you’ll get satisfied with the result, even with a single coat of stain.
Select Suitable Stain Color
When selecting stain color, you will quickly discover that dark-colored stains suit the poplar well than the lighter ones. However, your selection of stain color will usually depend on the project type you will engage in.
Nevertheless, many woodworkers prefer dark walnut, Early American walrus, and whitewash oil stains. Other excellent options are the briar smoke, sun-bleached, classic gray, and weathered oak. Below are the superb stain color options for poplar:
Dark Stain Colors like Black: The black color is one of the best stain color options for poplar. You can choose from the Minwax True Black, Verathane Classic black, and Verathane Black.
Grey Colors: Choosing a grey stain is also excellent for poplar. Some of the best grey stains include Verathane’s Sun Bleached. This color is cool and would look good on poplar.
Light Stain: You can go for the Walrus Oil if you want a lighter stain. It will surely let the natural elegance of poplar shine.
What If Stain Won’t Work with Poplar?
If you want to highlight the natural grain and figure of hardwood, it will be best to use oil-based stains. Yet, in the case of poplar, it doesn’t absorb stain evenly. Thus, the poplar might end up with blotches that are not good to look at. But if you’ve prepared and treated your poplar wood with care, you can make your poplar wood elegant and interesting.
Yet, if you happen to get a blotchy result with messy streaks, you can turn around this result by painting the wood. But you need to sand the wood down and clean it before painting. You can prep the poplar wood using 80-grit sandpaper to smoothen its surface. Then, finish it off with 150-grit sandpaper using your orbital sander.
You can also use 220-grit for the end grain, which tends to absorb more stain than the other wood parts. Besides, it will burnish the wood surface to even out the color.
Once you’ve cleaned the wood, you can apply primer to the wood surface. Ensure that you cover the entire surface. Allow the primer to dry well. Then, you can apply an even paint coat. Let it dry and if you want a more durable and uniform result, you can add an extra coat.
The staining process of the poplar is circuitous and long. Besides, it is not an easy process compared to staining other hardwood. But once you’ve got the hang of it, you can redo the process anytime you would need to stain a poplar wood. You can also experiment with other products like dyes if you don’t want to use stains.
Conclusion
You would undoubtedly often notice that poplar is utilized under the hood or in the hidden parts of the projects. So, you might think poplar wood is strictly for woodworking practice and the unseen aspects of the project.
Nevertheless, it doesn’t mean you should never use it for your wood projects. Of course, its grains are a bit boring. But you can amplify and enhance its looks by adding stain or paint to it. Staining it is not that easy and is not advisable, and painting it is a better option.