Somewhere I remember you could use mineral spirits to pretreat pine prior to staining pine as well as a varnish or some specific type of filler to eliminate the blotchyness (word?) of pine prior to staining it. I have to lightly stain a new pine stairwell to match some red oak flooring and I have a lot of mineral spirits on hand. Will that work? Or best material to use prior to light staining of pine is______? Thanks for any guidance. My books on finishing are still put away while the home renovation is coming to an end.
Don M