Is it possible to buy a stain that isn’t a sealer too?
Kevin Hancock: Yes, there are many dyes that do not contain resins or binders. NGR (Non-grain-raising) dyes like “Solar-Lux” are good examples of stains that do not act as sealers.
Michael Dresdner: Pigment stains must contain some binder to work, and technically speaking, binder seals the wood to some degree. However, some stains contain such minute amounts of resin that they do very little sealing, and can leave the wood still feeling as though it is more or less raw. Technically speaking, though, there is some sealer on wood stained with pigmented stain.
