the retaining members 134 and plate 132 placing the applicator blade frame 128 and applicator blade pad 130 in the fully extended position in a preferred embodiment the length of the plate 132 and retaining in accordance with a preferred embodiment as disclosed herein in use a user would pivot the handle assembly 104 of the stain applicator 100 to the fully retracted position in the present embodiment to the right and then place the applicator pad 106 in a stain reservoir such as a paint tray or the like the stain applicator 100 would then be able to be used to stain either the tops and or the sides of the decking boards if it was desired to stain the sides of the decking board the handle assembly 104 would be rotated to the left thereby extending the applicator blade frame 128 while simultaneously loading the applicator blade pad 130 with stain this process would be repeated until the deck staining job was completed it should be understood that the foregoing exemplary embodiment description describes in detail only a single specific structure for providing a stain applicator comprising a generally flat pad and a retractable blade that extends and retracts through a slit in the.