HOW TO MAKE WOOD STAIN FROM COFFEE

modern builds: s.02 Ep.42

I think we’ve all been curious about natural wood stains… I was at least. That’s not to say I wasn’t skeptical, though. I did my best to create a test that would isolate the different variables that could factor into getting different results for those viewing (I highly recommend checking out the YouTube video above). I chose a light, medium, and dark roast to see if the roast of the coffee would affect color. I also brewed the coffee tin 2 different concentrations.

MY FINDINGS: So it turns out, there wasn’t a big different between roasts.. the BIG factor was the concentration of the brew. The Regular concentration (14g of coffer per cup of water) looked good, but wasn’t impressive. The double concentration brews (28g of coffee per cup of water) looked way better. In the image below you can see how the test pieces of pine, maple, and oak reacted to the stain. This is after 4 coats of stain. The oak, in my opinion, looked best with the coffee stain. The grain popped and the color was rich.

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STEP 1: BREW THE COFFEE

I chose to do a pour over brew since it’s how I typically make my coffee at home. It’s also convenient and easy to measure out your coffee and water for consistency.

STEP 2: Apply the coffee

I was surprised to see just how fast the color faded on the first couple coats of coffee stain I applied (see it in the full youtube video) . I found that it took 4 coats for a solid (medium) stain… if you want a little darker finish feel free to add a couple extra coats.

STEP 3: APPLY FINISH

The coffee stain isn’t going to do anything in the way of protecting the wood from everyday use, for that, and to bring out a little richer color, I used Maker Brand Simple Finish, which is a natural, home-safe, oil based wood finish.

If you have any questions or find any issues with the article, feel free to get in touch.

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