Background first: these are 1997 honey oak cabinets by Kraftmaid. Lower quality, I think, thinner panels. Cleaned periodically with cabinet cleaners and as needed with a dishrag. Wear around high touch areas and rough to the touch in the striated grain parts. Definitely needs TLC at this point.

Had a successful go with GF gel stain in the bathrooms so decided to tackle the kitchen but didn't want to mess with the dry time of oil. Chose GF water based stain in Dark Mahogany.

Cleaned with Dawn

prepped with scotch scrub

sanded with 220 grit

wiped dust clean

applied stain with sponge brush

removed immediately (less than 2 minutes) with lint free shop paper towel

result= not nice.

What did I do wrong and what I can do to correct it? I did 3 cabinets back side only and 1 cabinet front and back but I can't go forward or backward because this is unacceptable. The dark areas seen in the front are mostly due to that rough grain sucking in the stain, I think. My husband suggests going darker with GF Tobacco but I don't want to get into a bigger mess without some advice.