Thread: Staining MDF

Mate why would one wish to see pulverized timber anyway? But then if you must see it, Mirotone can provide a stain that will do the job. Check out their website and have look for yourself.

Regards,

Oddjob1

Hi All,
You could try giving a light sand with 180 grit or above ( use an orbi )to take away the shine on both faces, then try appling the stain. Try a scrap peace first !!

Regards
Sean H

Mdf is not designed to be stained, I seriously doubt that you will acheive a acceptable result

You will get best results with an oil based stain. Stay clear of water or spirit stains as they hate MDF

Whilst I would question why one would want to stain MDF, to avoid the blotchy appearance you can apply a thin coat of Ubeaut Sanding Sealer (shellac based). Then use an oil based stain as suggested above.

The same trick works on Radiata Pine and the like.

Hi Dcooper,

When MDF is manufactured a wax is added in the process so the fibre mat doesn't stick to the plattens in the press. This clearly makes using stain before polishing a major challenge. You could try fine sanding, say 320, followed by a wash coat of clear shellac or the equivalent before staining. I don't know how deep the wax penetrates below the surface. I've seen lots of MDF used in office fit-outs for work stations etc where the raw board has been polished with several coats of what I would guess to be acid catalysing lacquer at about 70% gloss. It looks quite good if you like that sort of thing and certainly there is no patchy appearance with that approach.

By the bye the AV 180 series glues are formulated to successfully defeat the wax component in MDF to get a satisfactory bond.

Cheers Old Pete

thanks everyone. I realise MDF isn't everyone's favourite timber. I don't like it much myself but was trying something new and thought MDF was the way to go for this particular job, but it needed to be stained and that's when I ran into problems!
Thank you all for your kind advice. Muchly appreciated.

I had kitchen cabinet doors in a previous house made from plain MDF and finished with a satin lacquer. Principally for economy reasons. It looked surprisingly good and many people commented on them favorably.