More in Painting Commercial stains have been around for about
100 years, but woodworkers have stained wood for centuries using
pigments and dyes made from plants and minerals. You can make
fairly simple stains at home and use them to give wood a
distinctive look. When experimenting with homemade stains,
measure and carefully record all of the ingredients used. This
will allow you to duplicate the same color of stain later.
Without a record of how you prepared the stain, it would be
nearly impossible to create the same stain twice. For a dark
gray or ebony stain, soak iron nails in a jar of vinegar for
several days (Image 1). Once the vinegar has darkened, pour off
some of the liquid, and brush it onto a test piece of wood
(Image 2). The results will not initially be dramatic, but as it
dries, the wood will turn silvery gray or, with additional
stain, almost black. You can make a brown stain by soaking
chewing tobacco in equal amounts of ammonia and water (Image 3).
As described above, strain off some of the l