Coloring Poplar Wood with Dye

There are bunch of ways you can get great, consistent results when coloring Poplar. I personally use one of two methods, depending on what I'm doing...
The first and easiest way is to use Transtint wood Dye. I use water to mix. You can use denatured alcohol if spraying. Water is just easier. Typically, I mix 1oz dye to 1 quart of water (1:32 ratio)
Steps:
1) Sand Poplar to 220grit.
2) Flood water onto wood, then wipe off. This will clean off sawdust AND raise grain. Let dry, then scuff sand to just knock down raised grain. (the last grit you used, will be fine here. You are not resanding. Just scuff til smooth again)
3) Now get a sponge or paper towel and flood the wood with water again. Wipe off the excess water, but leave it still pretty wet. Immediately after flooding, while wood is still soaked, apply the Transtint dye. Flood the wood with the dye, going with the grain; wait a few seconds, and wipe off evenly, again going with the grain. I use a cotton cloth or blue paper shop towels. *Let dry, and see how the color looks. If satisfied, finish with your clearcoat of choice.
-The water, in this case, works as the wood conditioner. The pores soak up all the water, making it less thirsty. So when you apply your color, it isn't soaking in all unevenly.

*This is where dye seperates itself from store bought stains. If you want the color darker, just apply a second coat. It gets darker and darker with every coat. So keep applying until you are happy with the color. I usually am happy after first coat, using the 1:32 mix. You can't do this with stain. Also, if it's too dark, you can take more and more color out, just by using water on a cloth. The water is the carrier, so water reactivates it.

This may all seem like too many extra steps or too complicated, but it really is simple. And it will give you professional results. Actually, these are the types of things that will seperate you from the casual DIY'er, to a finishing professional. I don't work for or sell Trans