I've never heard of using stain for glazing. I can't see how it would work well at all, especially given your distaste for the "dirty" look. Glazing liquid is basically a clear paint that you add solid pigments to in order to tint it. It lies on the surface of the paint and then is wiped off by hand to the degree that you desire and then topcoated. Stain is dye that is designed to penetrate wood fibers. It will stain the paint in a much less controllable fashion, making the results potentially look dirty and blotchy unless you have extraordinary technique.

When using glazing liquid, a wide variety of pigments can be added to highlight decorative details. The most often used ratio is 1 quart of paint to 1 gallon of glaze. Experimenting with scrap pieces lets you customize your look. The darker the paint that the glaze is based on, the darker it will color your actual white paint. It's far easier for those with less experience doing this to choose a lighter color to base their glaze on, and then if the color isn't dark enough, do a second coat. Above all, practice and be consistent in your application.

If you use Minwax stain I can guarantee that you will unavoidably stumble into the "all-over dirty" effect. It is exactly right that you need a tinted glazing medium. Apply it only to the areas you want to highlight.
Casey

Thanks for the input. I was under the impression, that the minwax stain was used to tint the glaze. Maybe I misunderstood. So can someone tell me a brand and color of some glazes in a chocolate color? I am a little confused. Don't worry, I am not doing this myself..a painter is doing it, but he wants me to pick out the color. Thanks for your help.

Then your "painter" should pick out the supplies that he needs after preparing several sample doors from which you to choose from. I would not be confident of anyone's technique who did not provide several sample doors of how he envisioned the glazing to be. You want to be sure you're on the same page, and it sounds as though you have an inexperienced guy in the mix.

My glaze was oil based from BM and they called it L30. It is an umber colored glaze and they special mix it in this particular store.

My cabinets have the dirty look - I wanted a heavily glazed look so I let the glaze sit for a bit before I rubbed it off. There are a variety of ways to apply the glaze. Check out the blogger David 123 - they recently glazed just the accent lines on their cabinets which was a very nice look. I know their kitchen is posted near the end of the $20,000 kitchen reno thread.

You can have any color of brown paint mixed with glazing compound to come up with the glazing color you want.

I am using the BM umber colored glaze on my island. I only wanted a light glazing and so I am rubbing most of the glaze off which is highlighting the distressed areas and a little in the recesses of the trim. So far I am really pleased with how it is turning out.

Does anyone have a link to David 123's kitchen that was mentioned above? I'm having glazing trouble and looking for a little advice.

Thread has a link to their blog.

Here is a link that might be useful: David123's Dream Kitchen thread

I researched glazing methods and tried various ones for probably two months before even starting my kitchen reno. I knew that I would be doing this part (the cabinet finishing) myself. I bought a nice piece of molding and just played alot. One of the methods that I tried was a minwax stain. I mixed it with the glazing just like I did with my other paint samples. It worked as well as the ones that I mixed with paint, it was just darker than I wanted. I'm sure that the results would have been the same if I would have mixed the glaze with a paint color this dark. I want more of a subtle look and ended up deciding on a very light tan color to mix with my glaze. It ends up looking like a grayish/brown color in the recessed areas with the method that I came up with. I would definitely make the guy doing the finishing come up with some samples before I would let him even start. Just from my experience in experimenting, and from reading on the web, glazing and faux finishing is as unique as personalities. Its very artistic and everyone has their own style with the way they either wipe off or dry brush etc...