Charles Neil vs General Finish pre-stain?

[Andrew Wayland]

I'm curious if the Charles Neil Blotch control works better than General Finishes pre-stain?

I'm working with some Cherry and need to stain due to my poor selection (lots of different coloration, and some sap wood mixed in).

Ive tried the General Finish Gel stain, and seem to still get blotches (on the plywood), so I'm tempted to try a pre-stain and a different type of stain.

[Andy Giddings]

Andrew, have never used either product in its pure form. I go straight to GF water stain (not the dye based), which I believe is a pigment/dye blend with their pre-stain mixed in - have had good results on Maple so may also work on Cherry. If you haven't already seen it, Jeff Jewitt has a set of videos covering the products he uses (including GF pre-stain based ones) and how to control blotch on maple that he's staining to look like Cherry. See his site at Homestead Finishing if interested

[Andrew Wayland]

I'll give him a look.

Interesting about the water based options from GF. I may have to give them a try.

[Bob Wingard]

I've had good results using Charles Neil's Blotch Control.

[Alan Lightstone]

I've also had great success with Charles Neil's Blotch Control.

[George Bokros]

Make it three with good success with Charles Neil's Blotch Control