This Cabots Stain and Varnish is an absolute horror show of a product. I will never ever use Cabots again. The Stain is almost like that Primary Paint you give to kids about 6 years old. Do not destroy your furniture with this product. After two coats it has a putty like finish that needs to be scraped off, not sanded because it just clogs up. And yes it was properly dried for 3 days before i removed it. If i lived near the Cabots Factory i'd throw the rest of it through their window.

Should have not trusted the in-store sample, as per other reviews came out mission brown, destroyed my brand new front door. Cedar does in fact look like brown paint not the rich red display sample of stain. Have no idea what to do now unfixable.

Wish I had read reviews before buying and using this product. It does not enhance the timber and looks as other reviewers have stated like mission brown. Absolute rubbish, but the old stain then varnish products
not easily available very disappointed and won't trust Cabots again.

Absolute garbage. Followed instructions to the letter.
End product was an uneven colour coverage looking terrible.
Sanded back as per instructions and applied second coat.
Still rubbish. Colour had no depth at all.
Ended up removing the whole lot and did it again using stain only then clear coat (using a different product)

I made a large picture frame and used the walnut gloss and could not be more satisfied! I applied it with a rag and it is perfect. I have had many compliments.

I purchased this 1 L product and followed the instructions. Initially the stain was smooth and easy to apply but later it started to dry and thicken in spite of stirring. I continued to apply however it turned out uneven with patches of stain. I don’t know what to do now. Tried contacting Cabot customer service on phone with no luck

My son has spent weeks sanding and fixing my dining room chairs and applied 2 coats of this today and its absolutely awful. It looks like a bad coat of mission brown paint and y ou can't see the wood grain at all. I'll never use this again. All I can think of is rubbing these 2 chairs back AGAIN and getting oil based varnish. I've restored lots of my furniture over 25 yrs and never had a problem until today! I followed all the instructions and won't use water based again.

Cabot’s waterbased stain and varnish.
The coats dry extremely quickly, so much so that the brush strokes remain.
After literally weeks of stripping and sanding 2 chairs, I have just applied one coat of this product to one chair and am shattered. It is a dreadful product. I’m an experienced painter and have never encountered such a poor finish. The beautiful chairs look like they have a ‘fake wood’ finish. I dont have a clue how to rectify this. Any suggestions?

Restoring an old table
Very fine beautiful grain, Wanted to still see the beautiful wood. Wrong product.
This stain is like a sticky thin paint, awful brush strokes and one coat completely hid the grain of the table. Milky and opaque in the grey colour. Terrible product. Not easy to apply evenly without brush strokes.
We’ve had to re sand the entire project and start again.
We are attempting to use this like a traditional stain and wipe off with a rag and in our test patches this technique is giving us a little colour and a little sheen but not destroying the table like before.

Not sure why I ended up with this product when I told the Cabot’s rep I want to 1. see my wood and 2 have a satin finish.

2 days ago I used this product on my new retaining wall,I brushed it on,it went on with ease,no streaks,and then used a roller,I will admit the roller action was faster and easier, it came up awesome,shows all the grain and knots in the finished product,I highly recommend d this product, have to purchase another tin but over all it really is a nice product

I’ve successfully used stain and varnish several times previously. I should have read other people’s reviews first on this product. Hours of sanding back a bed frame to raw timber, getting a beautiful finish with sanding and noticing how lovely the grain was. Then followed the directions for stain and varnish, sanding in between each of the 3 coats, I now have a bed frame that is chocolate brown, not the “Brazilian Roast” it was supposed to be. Oh and I can no longer see any of the beautiful grain in the timber. This stuff is more like paint.
“Not Happy Jan”

I bought a 1L tin of the pre-tinted Maple - applied it to one room floor and like the effect (3 coats in). Went back to the store to buy more to treat the rest of the floors - I am doing a whole house. Cabot's produce a 4L tin for about $140, the 1L tin is $60. Guess what - you can't by a 4L tin of the pre-tinted. I have just confirmed with with Cabot's. So 4 x 1L is going to cost me $100 extra - for no benefit.

Other option is to stain to adjoining floors a different colour.

It was not clear at point of purchase - that this 'bait and switch' trick existed.

Hello alternate provider.

Used this to stain our new pine $500 fish tank cabinet. Followed directions to a T. Just looks like a redish "mission brown" paint. Cant see any of the timber grain at all. Its just like paint. So extremely dissappointed that we ruined a brand new piece of furniture that was meant to be a center piece for our lounge.

I'm a professional painter decorator and have found this product a real time saver. Can be multi coated in a days work, water wash up, and looks good IF, the surface is sanded and clean, and applied with the grain keeping a wet edge, no dry overlap. A lot of negative reviews are from DIY that blame the product for poor workmanship. It's like giving a novice a hammer, and they blame it for not being able to build a house.

Used product on colonial windows. Initially satisfied with result. But after 2 warm, dry days of completing job it rained leaving exposed ledges with pale blotches/patches. Very disappointed. Need explanation and solution. Product recommended to me by local reputable paint shop. Seeking advice from manufacturer and retailer in order to decide whether to strip all windows and use a different product.