Homestead TransFast Dye Powder, Dark Red Mahogany

I have used Transfast dyes for many years. They work beautifully on woods that do not stain well (stain meaning pigment stain like you find in a can at Home Depot), such as maple, cherry, birch and pine. I know there are people out there who have never tried dyes, so this message is for you: if you have not tried dyes and you still monkey with gel stains and wood conditioners and never quite get the results you want on difficult-to-stain woods, quit torturing yourself and try dyes. They are easy to mix -- I use 1/2 bottle of powder to 1 qt of water -- or you can also use an electronic scale. You can wipe or brush them on or, unlike gels, you can spray them, which is what I do. Even the puniest HVLP setup can spray water. Heck, you can even use a spray bottle. Only downside is water-based dyes will raise the grain a little. So I either pre-wet the wood and let it dry and sand off the whiskers, or I shoot a coat of 1 lb cut shellac between the dye on the top coat (which you should do anyway to seal the dye if you use a water-based finish), which stiffens the whiskers and makes them easy to sand. Then I shoot another coat of shellac and then my finish. So if you have never tried dyes, join the revolution. You will be amazed.Also, if you have not done so already, buy Bob Flexner's book, "Understanding Wood Finishing." It is the bible.

This tiny bottle makes two quarts of wood dye! I decided to use 1/2 now and keep the other half in its powder form. I did this because I wasnt sure how I would like using it with water. I guess it can also be mixed with alcohol. Mixing it with water worked out fine and I actually liked the way it seemed to soak into the wood. The results were very nice and uniform. You also get a choice of some pretty unique colors. In my case the dye color I chose gave my birch project a very nice deep reddish color.

Worked amazing on my gunstock, looks amazing now!

Mixed it exactly as per instructions. Powder was red and matched the picture on this page. Due came out light brown on every test strip. Purchased this and another red dye for a guitar I’m building. Don’t want to risk using this because I need it to be red, like the images, not brown. Did I get a bad batch?Review used for two products for the same reason.

Even tho I didnt use thek for my final finish (my customer didnt choose this out of 6 sample finishes) they mix up easily and leave a nice tint to the wood.you can adjust the darkness of wood with more or less water and some experiment

Takes more powder than I would like to achieve optimal color, but looks lovely

I was using Trans-tint to "spruce-up Min-wax stain" but now I mix my own with Trans-Fast just how I like it. I bought several different colors to get just the right mix. Just remember this is Water based, but I can still use my lacquer on it.

I found this was an easy product to use and mix. However, attempting to match the color was very challenging. I am not certain I got that right.