Staining without Pre-stain conditioner

I just fininshed staining a pella patio door when I realized I had not treated it with a pre-stain conditioner. I also stained several windows which I pre-treated and they turned out great. I do have to apply 2 coats of stain to achieve the right color. I am wondering if I should just proceed with the second coat of stain on the patio door tomorrow or if I should sand and start over and use the pre- stain conditioner .

 

Welcome to the forums Vicky!

How does the stained wood's color compare? I don't generally use wood conditioner on small pieces of wood. What wood conditioner does is - it slightly seals the wood so if there are hard/soft places in the wood it will stain more evenly. While this can be beneficial on door slabs or other wide pieces of wood, it really isn't needed on window sash and other narrow trim. Wood conditioner will cause the stain to be lighter in color.

Generally it's not a good idea to apply more than 1 coat of stain. Stains are formulated more to be absorbed by the wood than to dry on top of the wood.

 

I can only achieve the correct color by appling 2 coats. I very seldom do 2 coats either. The door is somewhat blotchy in areas. I am not sure how to correct this.

 

IMO it's too late to do anything about it. If the stain hasn't completely dried you could wipe the door down with rags and paint thinner or lacquer thinner to take off as much stain as you can. But the dark areas that you say are "blotchy" probably won't ever be the same as if you would have applied the conditioner in the first place.

 

When the stain isn't dark enough it's better to get a darker stain than to apply 2 coats.

You might be able to take a rag wet with thinner [not dripping] and scrub off some of the stain. After it dries, sand lightly and restain. The existing coat of stain will act somewhat like a coat of wood conditioner.