Can You Thin Wood Stain With Paint Thinner?

Dried-Up Stain

• Paint thinner will work to thin the stain as long as the stain hasn't completely dried out within the can. Dried-up stain in a can should be considered useless. Paint thinner will bring out some color in the can, but the conditioning agents, colorants and wood preservers will not have the some chemical makeup as they did prior to drying.

Thin Entire Can

• You can lighten stains that are too dark by using paint thinner. Pour the can of stain into a larger container; add small amounts of thinner until you reach the color desired. Thoroughly stir the stain and test the stain color on a scrap piece of wood. Start out with approximately 1/8 cup of paint thinner to 1 quart of stain. If this is not light enough, add more paint thinner in the amount of 1/8 cup at a time. When you test the color on scrap wood, make sure that it's the same type of wood that you plan on using the stain on. Different types of wood will not stain the same.

Thin Partial Can

• Use paint thinner to lighten stain when you get close to using all of the stain. Add 1 cap of paint thinner to your stain at a time; thoroughly stir it. Test your stain to see if it is light enough; if it's not, add extra thinner in the amount of 1 cap at a time until you achieve the desired results.

Take Note

• Pay attention to how much paint thinner you are using. Write down all used amounts and ratios. If you run out of stain, you will need to know the amounts of thinner that were used in order to be able to replicate your stain color.