Chimiver Grey Wood Stains

Colour trends are always changing. Grey had been in fashion for years, then fell out of fashion and now it has returned. Some people just love the colour grey. Achieving a good grey on any type of wood, old or new, is challenging. Most people are looking for a hint of grey in the grain of the wood and not a deep laminate like grey. Some floors can look spectacular with a bit of grey colour while others not so great. The darker the natural colour of the wood fibre, the less visible the grey colour looks. To satisfy a variety of tastes and requirements, Chimiver has created a wood stain in four distinct variations of grey that work well with most types of wood, is easy to apply, dries fast and enhances the look of the surface. 

Grey | Dove Grey | Titanium Grey | Stone Grey

Why So Many Variations Of Grey?

Because there are 8 billion people in the world and each one is different. What some people might think is the perfect grey wood stain, other people might hate and the other way around. It is a matter of personal preference and wood compatibility. The people that are looking for some type of grey wood stain are usually trying to create a unique finish, get rid of some annoying wood colour or try to blend in some furniture or some wall paints with the floors. There is not a single reason but many distinct reasons why people can`t seem to get enough grey in their homes or businesses. A light grey like the Chimiver Dove Grey or Chimiver Grey are mostly compatible with very light coloured wood fibres like the white deal, maple or even white oak while the darker types of grey wood stains like Chimiver Titanium and Chimiver Stone Grey Wood Stain are compatible with the medium dark wood fibres. The funny thing is that even with all those grey options, there are many people that are still not happy with any of them and they end up mixing wood stains to create unique colours.

How To Use A Grey Wood Stain

As we have just mentioned above, the grey colour is just a word. It can vary dramatically from brand to brand and surface to surface. The same grey wood stain that looks pure grey on a bright type of wood surface, might be invisible when applied to a walnut or cherry surface. Pre testing is highly recommended. 

1. Surface preparation | The surface has to be sealant free, dry and residue free. Any pre-existing sealer has to be fully removed before a coat of stain can be applied. The wood stain should be applied in one coat only. A second coat is possible but not recommended. After the wood stain has reached the wood, the pores of the wood will be sealed and the absorbency of the wood will reduce dramatically. 
2. Sanding The Wood | The wood surface has to be sanded nicely with good quality sanding paper. Start with 40 grit, move up to 60, then 80 and 100 in some cases but if you are a professional floor sanding contractor, you can stop after 80 grit. It is essential to sand only along with the fiber of the wood and not against it. Any imperfection left on the wood, like sanding paper marks or circles, will be made very visible by the wood stain.
3. Cleaning | You want the wood to be spotless before applying any wood stain. Vacuum the surface a number of times around all the edges, all the gaps, around the skirting boards and any other place where the dust could hide. Open the windows to create some draft so the small dust particles can go out and not attach to your newly stained floor.
4. The Stain Itself | Make sure that you have enough wood stain to cover the entire surface. The recommended coverage area is around 50 sq meters per 1L but it can vary based on the type of wood, the condition of the sanding and the way it is applied. Highly skilled professionals can cover up to 75 sq meters of floor per 1L of wood stain. Shake the stain tin well for a few minutes to create an even mixture to make sure that the composition is equally tinted. 
5. Application | Apply a thin coat of the wood stain directly on the wood fibre while moving up and down the fibre of the wood. The wood surface will absorb all the stain it needs and the excess has to be removed. If the excess is left on the wood, it will dry unevenly and with discolourations.
6. Sealing | A surface that is stained with any wood stain is not protected. The wood stain is only a colour. A two pack water based floor lacquer like the amazing Chimiver Ecostar 2K should be used to overcoat the wood stain. After 2 coats of floor lacquer, the surface is fully protected and ready for use.

Oil Based Wood Stains

Most of the most natural looking wood stains are usually oil based. The stains have a slight odour while wet but the odour disappears after the surface has dried. To be able to handle any wood stain, the user should protect all other surfaces that do not require staining, should wear gloves, should work in well ventilated areas and should do a bit of homework before undertaking a staining project. All great brands of wood stains that are used by the commercial and residential market are usually oil based.

Chimiver Grey Wood Stain 

This wood stain is the basic grey from Chimiver. It is a light wood stain that is designed to slightly give the surface a hint of the grey without actually fully changing the colour of the wood. It looks very natural, it is easy to apply and it nicely enhances the look of dull and tired looking hardwoods. It can be applied on all types of unsealed, clean and dry surfaces. It can be overcoated with a matt two pack floor lacquer to make it look richer. The Chimiver Grey Stain is available in a 1L tin and it will cover around 50 sq meters of wood surface. It can be mixed up with other colours of wood stains from Chimiver to create unique colours. This is the lightest grey stain you can get.

Chimiver Dove Grey

The second most popular type of wood stain from Chimiver is the amazing Chimiver Dove Grey. Still a light stain but a touch darker and more intense than the classic light grey. It looks spectacular on all bright types of wood fibres and while it gives the surface a hint of grey colour, it does not create a full grey finish. It can be used to enhance the look of bright types of wood floors, furniture, frames, doors, toys, wood statues, etc. To be applied in 1 coat system over an unsealed and dry wood surface. It will look spectacular when overcoated with a matt or a semi gloss two pack water based floor lacquer. A drop of a darkish type of wood stain can make it more unique or more interesting.

Chimiver Stone Grey

This very unique colour of wood stain is a kind of mixture between grey and white. It depends upon what angle you are looking at it when it dries. Sometimes it looks like a white wash while other times it looks like a grey. It is a strong colour wood stain that will change the colour of the wood surface, it will expose the fibre of the wood and it will enrich the surface. It is compatible with all light and medium light types of wood fibres and it can be successfully used by the professional floor refinishing companies and the DIY users. It takes a few hours to fully dry and it will be spectacular when it gets sealed with one coat of Chimiver Ecostar 2k Semi Gloss. This particular wood stain will also mask small imperfections and it will even up slight discolourations between the floorboards.

Chimiver Titanium Grey

The new Chimiver Titanium Grey is a very distinct type of grey wood stain. Hard to say if this wood stain is grey or brown. The final colour can vary immensely from wood fibre to wood fibre and even based on the way it is applied. The new Chimiver Titanium Grey is a great wood stain to create unique colours, to match old and new floorboards or to mask some small discolourations and imperfections on the wood surfaces. It can be overcoated with any two pack water based floor lacquer from the Chimiver range. Pre-testing is highly recommended especially when dealing with wood stains that do not have a distinct colour. This wood stain is highly noticeable when applied on pine or white oak, but nearly invisible when applied on dark types of wood.

Our Recommendations

You are dealing with a solvent based wood stain. The stain can also stain your hands so wearing a pair of gloves is essential. The cloth or the rag used to stain the floor has to be soaked in cold water after the job is completed. As it is a solvent, the static energy generated by the cloth being rubbed against the wood could cause it to ignite. Work in a well ventilated area and remember, a wood stain is a colour only and not a sealer. 

1. Do a pre-test sample somewhere in a corner to make sure that the colour is the right one.
2. Do not soak the wood in stain to prevent long drying periods or not drying at all.
3. Do not walk on a newly stained surface for a good few hours after it was applied.
4. Make sure to have enough stain to cover the entire surface in one staining operation.
5. Do not mix up different brands of wood stains to avoid unwanted reactions.
6. Protect all other surfaces or areas that are not supposed to get treated with the stain.
7. Do not use single pack lacquers to overcoat the wood stain (it will exfoliate fast).
8. Make sure that the surface is touch dry before applying the floor lacquer.
9. Do not stain any other type of floor besides hardwood floors or semi solid floors.