Because wood dye is able to penetrate the wood and dye the wood cells themselves, rather than just sitting on top like a stain can with denser woods, you'll get a more even appearance. It will also highlight the beautiful wood grain in your maple cabinet doors. As such, it's often the best finish for maple cabinets.
Tung Oil Varnish blend is what I used in this tutorial. While oil finishes do a wonderful job at highlighting the figure in curly maple, they also add a gentle amber color. An oil such as tung oil or boiled linseed oil will also reveal and add punch to figure that may have been difficult to see in the raw board.
Maple Finishing Tips
Want to retain maple's light look? Coat it with a clear, water-based finish. Be sure to damp-sponge the wood to lift the grain, then sand, both before and between coats. Give maple an aged look with dye and an oil/varnish mix.
When it comes to durability, there is a bit of a tradeoff between painted and stained finishes. Painted cabinets are more resistant to damage because the paint layer adds some protection from dings and scratches. However, stained cabinets are better at concealing the damage done to them than painted cabinets.
A maple kitchen can be turned into a modern kitchen simply with a coat of paint. You can't go wrong with painting them in a crisp white shade. Add some stainless steel appliances and hardware to that, combined with contrasting countertops, and you've got yourself a super stylish modern kitchen.
Tone down the orange. If your wooden cabinets are stained a shade that pulls orange, you can do this by changing your wall paint color and cabinet door hardware. Choose a paint color that works with the cabinets to tone down the orange. Lots of recommendations include greige or beige colors.
For the do-it-yourself finisher, the best stain for maple is not a stain at all but a wood dye. We recommend using a wood dye instead of a pigment stain, which can help you achieve a darker finish since the smaller particles in a wood dye can better penetrate the wood.
Maple Cabinetry
More specifically, maple cabinets are the go-to natural wood in 2023. It's a wood that's just warm enough but also light enough to keep your kitchen looking updated and bright. Maple has a great tone that works with almost any paint color, from white to the trending bold colors of 2023.
We do not recommend pre-sealing Maple with a conditioner because it closes up the grain of the wood even more, further preventing color adherence. In the future, just use our water-based stains or gel stains on their own. Do not use liquid oil-based stains on Maple because they will blotch.
Avoid conversion lacquer, which is the amino-alkyd resin with nitrocellulose added. Nitrocellulose will yellow significantly over time. A final option is a dewaxed colorless shellac. Ultrapale and super blonde will have just a hint of color, while bleached shellac has virtually no color.
Ideally, your stain will preserve the rich color of your maple cabinets, not hide it. But maple is tricky–it can dry blotchy and fade over time with poor treatment or low-quality stains. That is why we'd recommend using a pre-stain conditioner, like Minwax, to first prepare your maple for staining.
Maple needs to be sealed/finished. It will become very unattractive rather quickly if not.
Similarly to birch, maple has a smooth, uniform surface that's perfect for a painted finish. In fact, maple wood is even smoother than birch in comparison! Making it arguably the best solid wood surface for painted cabinets.
That smooth even grain that makes maple a good choice for stain also makes maple cabinets a good choice for painting.
Stain is the best finish for kitchen cabinet doors if you want to preserve the wood's appearance — knots, grains, discolorations and all. Some stains add subtle coloring or darkening to wood, but never as opaque as paint. Stains protect the wood from moisture, pests, and scratches.
To eliminate blotchiness on maples and cherry, a light wash coat may be applied prior to staining. A wash coat can be formulated by using one part of non-catalyzed vinyl sealer with 5-10 parts acetone. Increasing the ratio of vinyl sealer to acetone will provide more stain uniformity.
Soft maple will blotch with stain, more than hard maple. It is easier to shoot toner over either maple than to stain it. From contributor G: Soft maple will actually absorb stain, thus making it easier to get deep colors.
Glazes available in Ebony, Brown, Cordovan, Pewter, Umber and White. The stains shown are approximate representations only. Actual stain color may differ from what appears on your screen due to variations in computer monitors.
2023 Wood Stain Trends for Cabinets
Amber toned wood in pine, oak and maple are the new trend for stained kitchen cabinets. The MIX of wood tones and solid colors is the most important kitchen design trend in 2023.
Maple surfaces owe their light natural color to their clear oil finish, but this finish gradually breaks down as time passes and returns to its original oily yellow color.
The soak-in area is where you will have a darker blotch in your stain. When it is even, then lightly scuff sand before applying your stain. If the stain will not penetrate, use a higher grit sandpaper with a block and with the grain. The more porous wood should still stay sealed unless you over-sand.