Early in my refinishing journey I tried countless combinations of stains and clear coats to achieve a factory looking finish. Spoiler alert there is no magical combination.

Then one day I heard a new term “toner”. The rest is history, as toner was the secret to making projects chef kiss worthy.

▪️What is it:
Toner is any clear sprayable finish with color added. It can be made from various clear finishes, but some are better than others. Since multiple coats of toner are typically applied, finishes that dry fast are ideal such as shellac or lacquer. You can certainly use other water-based finishes too if you don’t mind the extended dry times. Waiting a couple minutes for shellac or lacquer to dry rather than 30+ for water based is a tremendous time savings though.

▪️How to use it:
Toner is sprayed onto the piece and allows you to build color evenly as it sits over the wood. It is ideal for evening out wood tones such as color matching tops or legs which are typically a different wood than the rest of the piece (ex: elm legs with a walnut case). Toner is best applied in light coats to slowly build the color. In doing this you’ll avoid creating lap marks where color may be applied unevenly.

▪️How to make Toner:
To make toner I mix together @zinsser sealcoat, Transtint Dyes, and denatured alcohol as shown below. I prefer this mix as its much lower in VOCs than lacquer so its better for the environment and personal health.

1 quart container:
50% Sealcoat
50% Denatured Alcohol
20 drops of dye (add more dye as needed)

For reference, the above works nicely to tone an entire piece. A more color heavy toner is likely needed to color match legs, etc. Medium Brown Transtint is my favorite color and accents teak, walnut, and rosewood VERY well.

Drop any questions in the comments below

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