1. Sand lightly over the whole piece using 100 to 220 grit sandpaper. The objective in pre-sanding is to remove any dirt that may be in the wood during shipping. Also sand any areas that are not very smooth. You don^'t need to sand extensively, just enough to get the super rough areas. The main reason for not sanding much is because once you put a wet substance on wood, it swells the grain and makes it rough again. This is very normal. The sanding you do between your coats of finish will smooth this out. This step should only take you 5 to 10 minutes.

2. Once you have sanded your piece, wipe off the dust created by sanding with a dry cloth. You are now ready to stain your piece of furniture. Using a cotton cloth (old T-shirt), wipe on the stain with the grain. Put on the stain as much as the wood will accept. You do not need to put it on heavy and 5 minutes later wipe off the excess. That is more work than you need to do. Once you have stained it, you should go back over it and smooth out any rag marks you may have created while staining. Let your stain dry a minimum of 8 hours. I recommend over night.

3. If you desire the color to be a little darker, add one more coat of stain the same way you did the first. More than two coats of stain will not do much to the color.

4. You are now ready to put on your first coat of finish. Make sure that the stain is completely dry before you put your finish on. Apply the Clearthane the same way you put on the stain, with a cotton rag. Again, wipe it with the grain and just what the wood will accept. Let that coat dry overnight. The next day, lightly sand with the grain using 600 grit sandpaper or 0000 steel wool. Your piece of furniture is going to be pretty rough, but this is normal.  Wipe off the dust with a dry cloth.

5. Apply your second coat of Clearthane the same as the first. Again, lightly sand the entire piece. This time it should be almost completely smooth.  Again, wipe off the dust with a dry rag.

6. This is your last coat of finish. Apply it the same as the first two. Let it dry overnight. If it is not as smooth as you would like it to be, you can apply a fourth coat. Sometimes this is needed because the wood absorbed more of the finish. After your final application, do not sand. It is ready to use.