Buy this gel stain! We have light, builders grade banisters in our house that I have hated since the day we moved in and match nothing else in the house. I really wanted to refinish them but I was scared to wreck them. Well, after reading 4 million reviews, videos from everyone I could find, endless pictures comparing colors, I went for it and I couldn’t be happier. I ended up only needing 1 coat of the Antique Walnut and a few touch up areas. Here is exactly what I did. Prep work is key. Don’t skimp here.1. I cleaned the banisters with Krud kutter ( not the deglosser) and a green scotch bright pad and wiped clean. 2. Clean with a green scotch bright pad and and a good amount of Dawn soap and water. 3. Give a medium scrub down with mixture of 50 denatured alcohol and 50 water with yet another scotch bright pad. Let dry 2 hours. 4. Give a light sanding with a 220 grit sanding pad ( or 400 sheets I believe it what the company said). I used the 220 klingspor flexible sanding pad they recommended in one of the company videos. They are great! One pack was more then enough for the entire banister. 5. Vacuum up the dust really well. 6. Wipe with a damp cloth to remove more dust. 7. Wipe with an oil free tack cloth. I only needed one. 8. Tape everything off with green frog tape and use drop cloths. 9. Start staining! When staining I used these items. A paint cup, foam paint brush, short handled stain grade paint brush ( don’t cheap out), 2- 1” chip brush, extra paint brush, several terry cloth rags, odor free mineral spirits, a plastic cup, gloves, and a cardboard box to sit everything in as I worked.1. Stir the gel stain well and pour some in the paint cup. Pour and inch or two of mineral spirits in your plastic cup. Put all your supplies in your box and you are ready to go!2. Dip your rag in the mineral spirits and lightly wipe down the section you are going to work on. This is key! It allows you more time to work and blend. I worked in about 8-10” sections at a time. Try to find natural divisions as blending sections is the hardest part. By the time I got to the second railing I had realized that I could do the side first, then the top and it was easier to blend rather then all the way around the rail before moving on. 3. Dip the foam brush in the gel stain and brush on the wood. Don’t go crazy but use enough that it’s a solid color. 4. Give it just a few seconds then use the short handled stain brush to brush through the gel and start removing some color. Have your rag in your other hand with just a little mineral spirits on it. Dab your brush on the rag to remove the excess stain. 5. Use the chip brush to remove stain in groves and along edges. The chip brush in particular will make it look super streaky. Don’t panic! 6. Keep using your stain brush and the chip brush until quite a bit has been removed and you are sure you have destroyed it because it’s so streaky. 7. Take the extra paint brush, which you use dry, and start very gently brushing over everything. This will blend it all together. You should have removed enough product that you can still see the grain of the wood. It’s stain not paint after all. 8. When you are happy with it move on and wipe the next section with the mineral spirits rag and continue. 9. Let dry 24hrs. At that point you can very carefully touch up any areas that are too light. Give a wipe with mineral spirits, dap on a touch of color with the foam brush and blend. 10. Let dry and then seal with a top coat. I haven’t done this yet, as it’s still drying, but plan to use Arm R Seal semi gloss.Tips: -if you totally mess up a section you are working on you can remove all the product with a mineral spirit rag and start again. You will NOT be able to do this later or tomorrow so do it immediately if you aren’t happy. -If you work in too large of a section and the gel starts to dry or it’s too thick you can dip your extra chip brush in mineral spirits and gently brush over that area to remove some.- If you can’t finish in one day be sure to stop at a natural division line. You will not be able to remove the stain tomorrow or get it to blend in perfectly. I left some on one newel post and then when I started the next day I couldn’t get it off so that area is darker and is what it is.-Do NOT go back to a section you did earlier. You will mess it up!!! Wait until tomorrow to fix it.