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In This Video You’ll Learn About:

• Distressing alder
• Highlighting distressed marks with glaze
• Blotch-free staining with dye to achieve a custom color
• Glazing to create color tone over dyed wood

Since alder is such an easy wood to shape and distress for rustic woodworking projects, it’s no wonder that it’s the most popular choice for custom projects like rustic cabinets, doors, and tables.

The downside to the wood is that good ol’ oil based and water based stains look hideous on alder when applied right to bare wood because they blotch unpredictably. Is that bad? No, not exactly. It works, yes. But the appearance lacks visual finesse — and I’d be remiss if I didn’t do my part to share how staining alder can be done better.

Fortunately, there’s a better way to create a distressed rustic, yet graceful, looking wood finish on alder wood projects.

It’s called glazing.

Glazing is pretty easy to do: apply a dark gel stain after you’ve sealed the wood with one coat of clear sealer. (Note: or get some actual glaze instead of gel stain . . . but gel stain is easier to find at a retailer and gets the job done).

Glazing is a great trick for all kinds of color control on your projects, not just rustic ones. But on projects like cabinet doors with detailed profiles and other nooks and crannies, or in the case of a rustic furniture project with distress dents, dings, and cuts, the glazing action highlights them. It really enhances the look

You’ll see in the video above.

With this technique, you’re in full control of the final color. Therefore, I’ve demonstrated this on two different alder cabinet doors: one natural color, and one dyed with a deep reddish brown cinnamon color. Both are distressed and glazed.

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