Household Products To Stain Wood?

[OldNYJim]

I made a little wooden desk to replace the plastic one that comes in the Rommel's Rod showrod kit - I figure nothing looks more like wood than wood, right?

I'm trying to darken it up before I weather it with some washes and stuff...anyone have any ideas of what will work to stain it?  No idea what the wood is, unfortunately...it's something I got from a hobby store at SOME point, and it's harder than balsa but more than that I'm not sure. 

Any ideas on what I can use to stain this without buying something especially?  Coffee maybe?  Soy sauce? 

Bonus points if you have a picture example too...I couldn't find much of relevance via a search

Edited January 17, 2019 by CabDriver

[HOLMES55]

If you look in some hardware stores that sell wood stains they might have free sample stains that come in a small package. One store I went to were giving away boxes of them and you can get different colors to test out. I use them to stain the wood in pickup beds.

[OldNYJim]

Ohhh, that's a good tip Brad!  Thanks for the suggestion!  That bed looks GREAT!

[64SS350]

If you pour some vinegar over some steel wool, let sit for at least a day, use use treated vinegar to stain wood.

Test first if you like color, all wood species will accept it differently.

[Deuces]

Soy sauce also works.....

[tom q vaxy]

shoe polish. india ink cut with isopropyl alcohol. coffee or tea. model paints thinned way down. don't soak/ saturate it until it swells, but several light coats until you get the color you want would be okay. scratch coat furniture polish. kids markers. furniture touch up markers. just have a look under the kitchen sink; there's something under there that will work.

Edited January 18, 2019 by tom q vaxy

[Dave G.]

Acrylic paint cut to a wash in a combo of ipa and water will work, I use that sometimes in my wood turnings then clear coat. Rit dye will work. I also have solvent based stains here but sometimes I just want a paint color that acts like stain. Also tea will work for a lighter stain, I've done that but it was so long ago no clue how I went about it now.

The wood may be bass wood..

Edited January 19, 2019 by Dave G.

[BigTallDad]

Try a brown Sharpie

[TarheelRick]

Here is a link that may help.

https://www.instructables.com/id/Forcibly-Aging-Wood/

[OldNYJim]

Some great tips here, thanks everyone!!