You probably should have stripped the table first. It sounds like the gel stain sat on the surface of the wood and did not get absorbed. You should definitely strip the table and then sand it with increasingly higher grades of sandpaper. Finish will a 0000 steel wool until the wood is as smooth as silk. Then try the stain.

I have only done an armoire and I found that if I left it the 3 minutes that were suggested it would not come off well. Also if it has been raining ( i am in the northeast where it has rained for the last 7 days) it did take my coats more than 24 hours to dry. I was able to remove my first tacky layer by redoing a fresh coat and quickly, like with in 2 minutes, wiping it off.

After i got the hang of the material, my piece came out wonderfully but after the first coat i was doubtfull. I did not fully sand, only a quick light sanding followed by cleaning with TSP. Try again in dry conditions and wait only a minute or two before wiping and see if that helps. Good luck.

"I cleaned it, and roughed up the surface with sandpaper, as has been suggested. I applied the gel stain with a brush, let it sit for a few minutes, and wiped the excess off with a cloth. "

The wood needs to be bare of ANY finishing material, not just "roughed up."

Roughing up is a way to crate a more uniform scratch pattern in the bare wood to make the stain more even.

Gel stains can be useful, but are really designed for a specific problem, woods that tend to 'blotch' from variation in the absorption of stain (common with some pines, cherry, and a few other woods).

They are NOT the best solution for every day coloring of wood.

I did nothing more than lightly sand and clean my cabs before gel staining. I used general finishes brand gel stain - it beats the rest of the brands that I tried, hands down. Gel stain is meant to sit on top of the wood and not soak in. I wiped the gel stain on with a rag and smoothed it over the surface in a light application - and did not come back and wipe it off. Thin applications and ample dry time until another coat (or however many coats it takes to get the desired color).

Update: After sanding the table, I tried again. I used a cloth to apply the stain, did a reasonably thin coat, and wiped it right away. Much, much, better! No more splotches, and it looks good. I'll do a second coat tomorrow. It will only be a little darker than the original colour, but that's fine.

I have decided to leave my cabinets alone for now, though. They are in good shape,I just wanted a bit of a change. But given my experience with the table I have decided that it's way more than I can handle.

With gel stains the more coats the darker they become, so I kept applying til I reach the color I liked. After my first coat everything went much smoother and dried faster too. I think there is just a learning curve for application technique.

So how did this turn out for you? I have had a hard time getting my gel stain projects to be even. All of mine have turned out fairly dark because of the problem with getting it perfectly even.

@roarah, I think there is a learning curve too. I have given more than a few tears up to gel stain.

...working on gel staining a bathroom vanity right now. I'm using General Finishes. Oh boy, this stuff is NOT like the minwax gel stain I've used before!

I'm totally addicted....and I'm constantly looking around for what else I can stain!

I did not wipe it off either. Just putting it on like paint. I did wash with TSP and sand lightly. I've got my eye on a dresser, the base to my kitchen table, and the vanity in the master bedroom...

beekeeperswife That is so funny! Its hard to stop once you get started!! lol After I did my bathroom I found a cheap oak headboard on craigslist to stain, I've done my kitchen table, a kitchen cart, and I have great plans for my mothers ancient mud room!

The table turned out fine. When I finished it I did a small bookcase. Again, some issues with uneven colour, but in the end it looks good-much better than it did before.

Not going to tackle the kitchen cabinets, though.

I experimented with the GF Gel Stain and also found that before I got an even finish it got too dark. I am in the latter stages of staining a honey oak island using Mohawk "Finisher's Glaze" Glazing Stain. It is a liile more liquid than the gel stain, but similar in concentration. I am using a dry brush technique and it is looking awfully good if I do say so myself. The secret appears to be brushing it out to a very thin film, till the brush almost seems dry. If I got a noticeable amount of liquid stain on the surface it wants to just slide around leaving bare streaks. I will post pictures and more details once I am done and apply finish. I only scuff sanded the factory finish - did not strip the cabinets.

Just used General Finishes Gel stain on my banister at the stairwell. I cleaned it GOOD and lightly sanded just like I was told. I put it on thick on the banister and the base. The base is drying great, but the actually handrail is tacky. What do I do?

How long has it been drying? I have had gel stain take over 24 hours to dry - and that is when I used it as a stain on a stripped surface and not over poly. Also, high humidity can affect drying time.

Was the handrail previously finished/stripped, or was the gel stain the first thing applied on bare wood?

I need HELP! I have the Min wax Gel Stain, sanded down my oak cabinets really well. Used an expensive Purdy brush, and the gel stain went on smoothly, but when I went back over to wipe off excess stain it was too sticky! I mean less than 1 minute and I can not go back and wipe off with a brush to smooth out! Plus, with a sponge brush it goes on thick and there are definite lines in the gel from, and my Purdy brush leave deep grooves in the stain. I have hand stained many tables and pieces of furniture in my days, I am pretty good at what I do. But I HATE this gel stuff. I have 2 coats on my cabinets and they are so blotchy..... can I save them? Do I need to keep adding stain until it smooths out? I am afraid by then I will not see any grain. I t will look like I painted them. I don't want the paint look, but a stained look.

The Miniwax gel stain is difficult to work with - been there and done that. I used the Miniwax gel stain (never again) on totally stripped wood cabinets - so I was using it as a true stain, not as a "paint" over another finish. I discovered quickly as you did that the stain dries too fast - faster than indicated on the directions and needs to be wiped off almost immediately. I used cheesecloth to apply the stain (I always use a cloth, not a brush to apply stain) and wiped on the stain and wiped up excess right away.

The good news is that if you have a blotchy area, it sands off easily - or at least it did on the unfinished wood I was working with. I think I used 220 grit and my first poorly done area came right off. It has been a while, so it is possible it was a lower grit, but not much.

I did not do the gel stain over finished wood like I have seen on blog post. I totally stripped my cabinets and only chose the gel stain because it was the right color and did not penetrate the grain making the grain too dark like regular stains did. I wanted to keep my cabinets light and not bring out the grain too much.

I am not overly fond of the gel stain on top of finished cabinets. I think you might want to consider sanding and painting instead.

These are my cabinets:

https://www.houzz.com/photos/my-pics-work-in-progress-phvw-vp~58830325

General Finishes are the products you will find easy to use with excellent quality results. General Finish

Second the recommendation of using general finish. I'd also recommend to apply the gel with a cloth (old cotton t-shirt) rather than a brush, and remove the excess with another clean cloth. I found that this way it is easier to apply thinner, even coats. You want to do more thinner coats rather than less thicker ones.

I started this thread almost 7 years ago, and I have an update. I should clarify that I originally used Minwax Gel Stain. I never did stain the kitchen cabinets- we renovated in 2014 and replaced them.

However, recently I decided to update the honey oak vanities in the bathrooms and the laundry room cabinets. I ordered some General Finishes Java gel stain. I applied it like paint using a foam brush. It took 4 coats but it looks great. Even color, and no blotches. The secret, I think, is the dark color. I tried to use General Finishes Nutmeg on a laundry chute cabinet in my hall upstairs and it was ok but slightly blotchy. You could still see the variations in the grain. I redid it with the Java and it looks much better. The biggest issue I have with this project is waiting for the stain to dry between coats. I have found that the first coat took longer to dry than subsequent ones. Not quite sure why, but this was my experience.

Anyhow, one quart of stain did 4 vanities of various sizes and a large shelf. I am halfway through my laundry room, which has 5 uppers over the washer/dryer and uppers and lowers with a sink on the other side of the room and the second quart will be enough to finish the job. At $30 a quart you get a huge impact for not a lot of money.

Kclv, thanks for the update - would love to see photos!

I got some Minwax Hickory gel stain because that was the only brand at our local store, I applied it to my stair railings with the method some people on the interwebs have recommended: brushing it on and not wiping it off. It has been rainy here, but I applied the stain 4 days ago and there are still a few areas that are tacky. Do I dare paint a second coat? If I can find General Finishes, could I apply it over top of Minwax? I'm doing a very dark finish, so I'm sure the General Finishes Java would cover the Minwax stain. Any thoughts?

It has been a month since I gel stain a twin bed with rails - The oil stain and odor has diminished but it is not completely gone. I put three or four coats of gel stain on it to cover the original blonde wood. Anyway I can get that thing to dry?

My experience is “DON’T USE MINWAX FOR ANYTHING, ESPECIALLY THEIR POLYSTAIN”!!!!! I sat around for 2 weeks trying to stain everything and having issues with stain dripping or being uneven and stripping it back off to do it again. I knew it must be the stain because I was doing everything according to what I’ve seen on YouTube by Bruce for the Minwax products. The only problem was that that was the only color in the stores that I liked (Bombay Mahogany) When I started reading reviews I saw that everyone was having same issues. I finally got in touch w/ painter friend who said that’s why he didn’t use Minwax products anymore. He hooked my up with Old Master Gel Stain in Rich Mahogany and wow what a difference. Bad news is I had to strip all the old stuff off so it’s like I did my cabinets 2x. Still not quite done but I’ll post pics off my progress and the Minwax nightmare vs what Old General looks like. My cabinets are pine and with gel stain you don’t have to condition wood but with regular stain always use wood conditioner first or it will be a blotchy job. Also you need to make sure any scratches or flaws in wood are sanded out or stain will highlight them big time. The last piece of advice is that when you’re sanding to get scratches out, you must sand through the grits. For example: if you’re using 80 grit to get out a deeper scratch, you’ll want to follow up with a 150 grit then a 180 grit or 240 grit. You can’t just jump from 80 grit to 180 or 240, trust me I tried. 240 can remove scratches 80 grit leaves, by sanding through the grits you’re leaving smaller scratches until with the last grit the eye can’t see any scratch. To check if scratches are gone hold wood horizontal while shine light from the bottom of wood piece, with eyes just above eye level peer down wood toward light and any flaws should be visible. Also when using oil based stains if you wipe wood down with mineral spirits first any scratches will show up right away. Let the mineral spirits dry and then sand out.

Late to the party here. I just used gel stain for the first (and second) times on the banister for my stairs. I chose Minwax Gel stain in black. I was surprised at how thick the stain was, but it was my first attempt so I went with it.

The stain went on very thick. Directions suggest waiting 3 minutes before wiping, but doing so just left me with a sticky surface that didn’t wipe well. The same was true after only one minute. I completed two handrails and two base rails (boards). I did not wipe with a rag since it didn’t seem to work well.

The result after one coat - a tacky, sticky rail in an air conditioned house for 48 hours. Grain was hard to see, unlike photos that I’ve seen. Really unhappy with the result.

I spent 2 days sanding the mess off of the wood and tried again with a different color. This time I tried the Minwax Gel stain in Coffee color. I opened the can, stirred it, and it seemed like an entirely different product. Much thinner than the can of black gel stain.

The new stain applied evenly and well. I was able to wipe effectively after 1, 2, and 3 minutes. Grain was visible. This was a much better experience.

I think my first can may have been bad when I purchased it. It wasn’t truly like 2 different experiences using the two cans of Minwax Gel stain.

Ok I hope I can get some help here. I applied gel stain to dining room chairs and they came out beautiful. With a brush. Then I decided to top with gel top coat. It was a nightmare. Brush strokes like crazy. So I sanded it lightly with a 220 sponge and reapplied gel stain and now there is brush marks like crazy and it has a milk white sheen. Can someone please tell me what to do?

I did Java color from Minwax. I did a bathroom vanity. No wiping but thin coats (3). They are a beautiful black now!

Did my first coat of Java gel stain on my vanity doors. Did not wipe off as I want it dark as can be. I used a can that was left from another project a year or so ago. It is dry now but I have lines from the foam applicator I used. Do I need to sand or should I keep going? Also, do you always use a finish coat of varnish?