Lyptus is a great wood. Seems to be getting popular. You shouldnt have any problem grabbing an off the shelf stain from the hardware store and applying it per the instructions on the can, assuming the cabinets are unfinished. Its always a good idea to do some test stains on the inside of a cabinet or a scrap piece of the same material just to make sure the color is what you are looking for and the stain doesnt look blotchy. Be sure the cabinets are sanded nice and smooth prior to staining. Uneven sanding becomes very obvious when stain is applied. Good luck with your project!

Marc

A clear stain ends up very much like you describe -- maybe a bit more "red" than you're looking for. CWP had a stain called "Fruitwood" that looked beautiful on Lyptus.

I am also interested in Lyptus kitchen cabinets. I started a post but it disappeared. Could you all share on brands, online sites, pictures of your kitchens and anything else that would be useful. I live in south Florida.
Thanks,
Terri

I, too, am hot on the Lyptus trail. I am in need of kitchen cabinets, some will have to be custom built. I am having a representative from "Showplace" cabinets come tomorrow to measure and suggest. See their site at http://www.showplacewood.com/. I am also going to investigate "Crystal" cabinets at a local showroom. Their site lists Lyptus as a green product that they use, however, it they are ambiguous as to HOW. Does anyone know of any other manufacturers I should check out?

"Their site lists Lyptus as a green product that they use, however, it they are ambiguous as to HOW."

Lyptus is just a strain of Eucalyptus that was bred for desirable charactersitics, trademarked as a brand, and grown on plantations. It's "green" inasmuch as it is farmed rather than cut from some virgin forest.

We installed Lyptus unfinished flooring. The off the shelf stains from the hardware store looked washed out. We ended up using dura seal stain. We found it at a wholesale flooring supplier. It works great on Lyptus.
We purchase our flooring from Truehardwoods.com.

I am considering lyptus on cabinets and countertops in the new house. I had my carpenter buy me a 1" board and a sheet of plywood to sample and to try different finishes on. We didn't stain any of the wood just different finishes. The first we used Waterlox and on another section we tried a water based poly. It was really interesting the different looks that the two finishes had. They were both beautiful with their own look. The waterlox looked a little darker and you could "see" the grain of the wood. The poly was a little lighter with a smooth look. Not sure if I'm discribing them right but they are both appealing. I've been staring at that board for about 3 months now and can't decide which look I like better.

We have done many Lyptus kitchens over the years with many thrilled customers. It stains beautifully, is hard and stable (for the most part), and is cheaper than cherry. It gets its grain texture from the Mahogany contribution genetically. We are a small custom cabinet shop in Salem VA but do kitchen remodels all over the region. We can even custom design and fabricate cabinets and ship them anywhere to be installed locally. HeartWoodCusatomCabinets.com

Here is a link that might be useful: HeartWood Custom Cabinets