An Experiment - Tea Stain!!!???

[Burtoni]

I seem to be allergic to all the stains out there with the poly and warnings etc...so am experimenting with stain from a tea bag! Did a bunch of cuts in a chunk of basswood and put the stain on. Will give it a few coats.
Will dry it and if it works out give it sprays of clear mat acrylics.
Will post here how it worked out.

[skidmore]

I was told you can do the same thing with coffee. let us know how it works out.

Forrest of NC

[Burtoni]

Forrest:
I will for sure...that's interesting about the possibility of coffee...it might be another experiment after I see how and if the tea stain works out!!!!

[Mottles]

Hi B, my only thought would be how the stain (tea or coffee) will hold up to fading over a peroid of time. Spraying with a finishing an clear acrylic would slow down any fading that might take place. Keeping out of direct sunlight would also help.
Like Forrest please let us know how it works out.
Another thought would be dyes that are made for leather? I have used them to dye and stain gourds they do have an ordor--again the color can be fugitive. Also another thought would be shoe polish as I recall others have used this product on this site. Might do a search!
K

[Burtoni]

Hi K:
Am trying the tea and then the coffee and then a combination of the two.
So far the tea is a bit light. Maybe more than one coat will work.
Will let you all know how it works out.

[jmischel]

Maybe Keoma will chime in here. She's mentioned several times using food coloring. And coffee. Other options are to boil beets and / or other vegetables to extract their colors.

I tried coffee on a little carving I did about 10 days ago. It definitely stained the wood, but not as darkly as I had hoped. I think it's because the coffee wasn't strong enough. I just used the leftovers from my wife's morning coffee. Next time I'll buy some cheap coffee and mix it up really strong.

[Burtoni]

Jim:
I tried the same with my wife's morning coffee. Not bad, but it has to be darker. And the experiment goes on!!!!!!!!!

[Mottles]

LOL B, I hope she was finished with her morning coffee before you began your experiment. You could get in the dog house real quick my friend. tee hee
K

[Marci MN]

I've heard using instant coffee works the best as far as getting a darker stain color.

Another one is using Koolaids for coloring. I've seen some ladies use it to stain cloth for dollmaking.

If you used instant coffee..and wanted your coloring just a tad bit redder like some staines.. maybe a tiny drop of foodcoloring in with the coffee will change the color to what you'd like.

If you do play with all of these options... could you post some pictures on what the coloring turns out to be? I'd love to see this.

Marcia.

[Burtoni]

LOLOLOL...
K: Her coffee was totally finished...she left me just enough to experiment with!!! So don't have to take up any space in the dog house!!! Ha, ha!