Natural Wood Stains | Kitchen Products That Add Color To Your Woodworking

Do you like staining wood but hate breathing the chemical fumes? Here are five natural wood stains you can find in your kitchen that really work!

I tested each on a red oak board and a pine board. Oak accepts stains really well, but pine is less expensive and more readily available. Staining pine can cause blotching. You can minimize this by applying a sealer such as shellac before staining.

Natural wood stains on oak and pine.

Coffee

To make the coffee stain, I poured boiling water over coffee grounds and let them soak for a couple hours. Then I strained the grounds with a coffee filter and collected the liquid.

I applied the stain with a soft rag. The first application doesn’t color the wood very much. Let it dry, then apply another coat of coffee. It took about three applications before the wood really started to darken.

Tea

I made the tea stain the same way as the coffee: just poured boiling water over tea bags, again making a strong brew. The nice thing about tea bags is that they make great applicators!

Wine

I figured red wine would easily stain wood. As it turns out, it took three applications to slightly tint the wood. I like it, but it’s not the deep red you see in wine barrels. That is probably only achieved from lengthy periods of soaking the wood.

Beets

Beets turned out to be a great wood stain! Boil them about an hour and a half then drop them in a blender with a little water and blend them into a thick puree. I tried thinning and straining it into a juice, but it didn’t stain the wood as easily. Just wipe on the puree and wipe it off with a dry towel With only two applications I got a gorgeous red tint on the wood.

Turmeric

I know from cooking Indian food that turmeric stains everything it touches! Drop a little of the spice on the countertop and it will not wash off. It’s almost impossible to even wash it out of bowls used for cooking.

And as it turns out, it is a awesome wood stain! I found than it works best to mix it with just a little water and wipe it over the wood. The result is quite striking, leaving the wood an almost neon yellow! I applied it twice, but really just one application seems sufficient.