Varathane 368029 Less Mess Wood Stain and Applicator, 4 oz, Dark Walnut

Although the “after” is still wet, I am incredibly pleased with the results and ease of the product. I was concerned that the color would not be dark enough to fix this laminate on our tables, but it definitely exceeded my expectations. I hand sanded the tables prior to applying and ensured that it was clean before application.Love that it is an all-in-one product and came out thicker and more pigment than expected. I did apply multiple coats and feel like it will do the job. While wet, it does have sticky texture but worth the value so far! I feel as if our tables are new!

The media could not be loaded. I desperately wanted to stain my little outdoor bistro set now that it's getting warmer out, but really didn't want an entire can of stain and didn't want to get a bunch of rags dirty. This was SO PERFECT for what I needed! The bottle does require a little bit of squeezing and make sure you sand so you don't tear up the sponge - but I find those small prices to pay for the convenience. The stain comes out of the bottle pretty well once you get it going, and was usable through multiple training sessions. The pictures I took are after one coat of stain and I find the color came out rather lovely.Don't go trying to stain your whole deck - but for those low effort small projects? Absolutely perfect.

I didn’t want to paint my cabinets, but they looked dull, dried out and I just wanted them to look better. This product was super easy to apply (just like polishing a shoe) & gave them a richer look. After a small banister, 9 cabinet fronts, and 4 drawer faces, the sponge applicator was destroyed. There was plenty of stain left, but no way to get it out. Perhaps I pressed too hard, but you have to press down for the stain to come out. I would still buy again. Leaves cabinets a little sticky until it fully dries.Before (right cabinet done only) & After pictures.

I was somewhat hesitant to purchase after reading other reviews, in particular how difficult it was to get the stain out of the bottle. I found that rather than squeezing the bottle, it works better dabbing the brush directly on to the wood, putting pressure on the top of the bottle. Then the brush is useful for evening out the dabs of stain. However, this is fairly tedious and slow going. The grey color is very light, so it took at least 2 layers before it was even evident. However, I am most interested in protection from the elements, so color was less important to me. I think this was a good starting point, though once I am done with this bottle I will just get a larger can that I can brush on a thicker layer and just be done faster.

Nice color and applies smoothly

Had to stain some wood pieces for a project I'm working on. I basically never work with wood and didn't want to end up buying a bunch of supplies I'd never use again, so this seemed ideal. It was not. Honest to gosh, I cannot imagine a possible reason to buy or use this product. If someone gave it to me for free I wouldn't use it. Heck, I PAID for the darn thing and went out to buy something else so I wouldn't have to use it anymore! Let me lay out the issues, as I see them:1) The squeeze- You have to CONSTANTLY squeeze it, at almost full muster, for many minutes at a time (depending on the size of your piece). It is physically exhausting using this product.2) The time- It took so much longer than it needed to. I had 7 wooden slats that needed stain applied and it took over an hour to get about halfway to complete. That's not counting the hours of drying between coats. To be fair, I was looking to turn these things black, so it needed quite a bit of coverage, but the application is so ridiculously slow and clumsy.3) The coverage- As I kind of alluded to above, the coverage was not good. At least partially because I had somewhat rough wood and partially because I needed it DARK, but even so, I'd applied 2 coats on each side and still needed at least a couple more.Using this product was so bad, that at this point, 2 coats in and realized I had at least another day of application and drying ahead of me, I just went to the store and bought the smallest can of Minwax liquid penetrating stain they had. I grabbed a cloth, dipped it in the can, and finished these things to perfection in 10 minutes. Easy, peezy, lemon squeezy.There is no possible reality where paying $10 for this "less mess wood stain applicator" and squeezing your forearms into oblivion, applying MANY coats, over the course of days, only to end up with subpar results, is a better option than buying a $10 can of stain, tearing up an old shirt, and finishing the job in 10 minutes, with stellar results. The ONLY possible use case for this product is to recommend to a buddy as a trick to pay them back for a time they wronged you. May gosh have mercy on your soul.

I have a lovely old rock maple dining set I love. The buffet/server suffered water damage. I sanded down the area and applied this stain. While not like new, it did an amazing job of blending in with the vintage color. The applicator is mess free, unlike stain in a can. For the area I was working with, it worked best to dab it on with the applicator fully wet with stain, and then rub it with the grain. A great value for use on a small area.

Excellent Quality