Any love for staining poplar?

I would think a green wood with a blue stain would look awesome! It would be more blue in some place and more aqua in others.... sort of tropical sea colors.

If I had a piece of popular lying around I would slap some bright blue stain on it to see how that played out.

 

Why not turn this around?

Instead of asking people to show you how ugly it can be, why not try to convert us to how attractive it can be?

Got any pics of your projects?

 

I think it all depends on the poplar. The stuff at Home Depot looks pretty gross, but many European poplars look nice. You could always try some wood bleach first to remove the streaks, then hit it with some wild colors!

 

... yeah... definitely.
I was gonna talk poopiee about Poplar... but hey... if you dig it... more power to ya.

You don't have to "hide" the green under brown stain either..
Accent the green if you dig that.
.... what the hell... do a multicolored dye job, if that yanks yer chain.
Have fun.
TransTint is only about $28 a bottle!

Edit: ...you can get powdered pigment dye colors as well... way cheaper.

 

I've seen it done lots on homes I've trimmed. Its hit or miss with the color variances of the wood. Wood bleach first would give you the best results. Other than that, it turns out nice enough.

 

I used poplar for framing cornhole boards once. It was inexpensive and harder than pine. I used Minwax semi-gloss wipe on poly (I think that's what it was) and I like it. To me the green streaks give me the sense that the wood isn't fully dried (even though I know that's not the case).

 

I dyed a poplar back a medium brown once. It looked OK. I don’t know if I’d go for a lighter color besides green. Depends on the piece of wood, I guess. I’ve seen some pretty clear pieces of poplar once or twice.

 

I would make a top from poplar in a heartbeat if it wasn't so soft.

If I could find some Rainbow Poplar for a top I'm building. I don't care. The green highlights have a subtle beauty that really speaks to me.

 

Musicman used poplar back in the 90’s on a lot of trans reds and blue bursts I believe.

I’ve seen some roasted poplar that looked real nice. The green streaks seem to go away and it all looks like even brown. Not sure how it would take a stain though.

 

I make vintage baseball bats, and sometimes use poplar for large 19th century models. It stains beautifully, and when stained, the grain reminds me of maple.

 

wood bleach... it's what it's for.