I've used Old Masters American Walnut on some medium toned oak cabinets in both my laundry and bath rooms and I love it! I did not want to go as dark as Java.

Did you have any problems with streaking? Some have posted that is a problem with the lighter stains. Not that walnut is light, but the opinion seems to be that the java, being extremely dark, doesn't show streaks as much as other shades will. I've used the minwax polyshades on some molding, it came out pretty well but its only a 3" molding. I wouldn't use the polyshades, too many negative reviews on it although it worked fine for what I needed at the time. I am going over a honey oak, and have thought about stripping off the polyurethane so I can stain and polyurethane, but I know what a messy hassle of a job it is. I do have some experience doing that, so I know I can do it, but I don't really want the mess, fumes and work involved in stripping/refinishing. Maybe I need to get some honey maple scraps and experiment first?

Gel stain is almost paint.

Look. You have nothing to lose by stripping one door and testing gel stain on another.

If you're going to strip your door, PLEASE get something like Citristrip or Soygel. Not only are they not flesh-eating chemicals, you can do the stripping job in place, inside. If you leave it on, say, a couple hours or even overnight, it'll not only take off the finish, but it'll start sucking the stain out of the wood -- so be careful spot stripping! It'll be lighter!

I've done 15 antique doors with God knows how many layers of paint on them. Right down to bare, gorgeous, unstained wood. To the point where I don't even want to clear coat them, they're so nice.

But to your question. Why not test a door. You have more intensity control with regular stain. You can always gel stain over all that.

I made this Pinterest board for my family, so this is jumbled as all pinterest boards are. But there are pictures of my door stripping there. Note: I have gloves on in one picture. Totally unnecessary. If I get reliquified stain on my hands, I just rub on some Citristrip like lotion. Wait a few minutes and wash my hands. I will never even look at an evil chemical stripper again!

Here is a link that might be useful: Christine's Doors

I did not strip them, to me that's the advantage of gel stain, it sits on top of the existing finish. It's like paint that still lets you see the grain. Translucent brown paint. They don't look streaky. You have to apply with the direction of the grain, or you will have obvious streaks running crosswise.

I put it on with my hand in a tube sock and then used a slight drier area of the sock to even it out. 2 coats of stain and two coats satin water based poly.Did a bunch of hollow core interior doors as well and very happy with them too.

Bath is only 1/2 finished. You might need protective eye wear because of the purple tile still in place, but I think this is a decent shot of the cabs.

Found a shot of my long narrow mud room and its endless array of doors (broom closet, pantry, hot water heater). We have since replaced the stick on vinyl with tile but this picture shows the doors better I think. The newer ones all seem to focus on the floors instead of the doors.

Lovely job!
Works just like a translucent paint!

This post was edited by CEFreeman on Fri, Feb 21, 14 at 10:21

Lucas, you did a beautiful job! That bath cabinet looks amazing! In our first house, we stripped and restained and polyurethaned our kitchen cabinets and they came out great. But it was a lot of work and I would prefer doing the gel stain as long as it comes out evenly. Your cabinets look perfect! I love the color too, not as dark as java but dark enough. .

Everything I've read about Minwax gel stain had been bad. Everything about GF good but like you say, always Java. I didn't want that dark and a good local hardware store carries Olde Masters so I checked it out and find this American walnut which like I said looks great. It also matches my walnut color you can see there in the kitchen. I intend to redo all interior doors as I get time.

I have heard nothing good about the minwax gel stains either. I have used minwax stains and polyurethanes with good results, but don't want to chance it with the gel stains. I can stain wood pretty well with regular liquid stains, never had a problem with uneven color so I think I'll be able to do a decent job with the gel stains if I am careful. I just have to decide the color, which is not easy either. If only I could buy some small sample sized cans to test out colors, like you can get in paint. But I really love your color on those bath cabinets, although I think mine are starting out lighter than yours did. Right now they are honey oak which has aged to the dreaded orangey color.

Yes mine were more of a medium oak, probably somewhat darker than your starting point, so some experimentation might be in order.

Good luck!