Minwax® PolyShades® Pecan, Gloss, 1-Qt

[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] Worked well. Looks great. Made cabinet look brand new.

[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] Finally found a great product that makes it easy to refurbish furniture. I liked that it was a one step process. I did a small piece of furniture and applied two coats and I really loved the way it turned out. Having the stain and polyurethane in one step makes projects much easier and I'm ready to get some other things done with different colors!

I do not enjoy painting and staining in general, but also am very particular about the quality of the finish, so I sometimes do projects myself to ensure quality outcomes. I chose this product because I found that the new sliding doors I thought only needed varnish to match the room actually required stain. Since I now had a coat of Minwax polyurethane one the wood, I searched for a stain that I could apply over the existing varnish. Enter PolyShades. I wish I had read the reviews first. This product is HORRIBLE to apply, especially on vertical surfaces like a door. It starts out very watery, which runs badly, and then it quickly turns gummy as you try to fix runs, leaving splotchy areas that are darker - once this process starts, you can't recover. Critical mistake on my part was to go back to an area and try to even out the color. I will now have to sand the wood back down, and start over. I want to cut my loses and switch to a regular stain, but now have to worry about color matching the trim that I have to redo with the door frame that actually turned out ok.

I bought two of the satin finish espresso cans. One came out satin, the second is very obviously NOT satin and the can was mislabeled so now I need to sand it down buy another can and start over so the table matches the chairs I already did. Quality control is lacking.

I'm a DIYer and have used stains & paints for 30 years. I bought this product and used it on end tables for my living room. Although, I DO get compliments on the end result, and it definitely "saved" time...I will go back to stain and poly as a separate product. I found polyshades more difficult to use and I had less ...control over the product...(if that makes sense)