Were there changes to Minwax stains?

[StillTooManyHobbies]

Hello, I am building a cabinet and the red oak face frame is stained and cleared, and I am working on the doors I started finishing it with an old can of Minwax "223 Colonial Maple" with SKU 2742662230. I ran out halfway through and went to Lowe's for another can. They had "Colonial Maple 223" with SKU 2742670005. I did not notice the difference in SKU's until I opened the can and the color was different. I tried it and the color is way too red. I assume this is a lower VOC version even though it is labelled as "Premium Oil".

Has anybody else had this problem and what did you do? It's now Saturday and Minwax customer service is closed.

Does anyone have an old can of "223 Colonial Maple" sitting on a shelf to get rid of?

Thanks.

 

[PCustoms]

Edit: the difference in color may be how old your can was...

 

[larry4406]

Edit: the difference in color may be how old you can was...

And how poorly the old or new cans were shaken/mixed before use.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Yes, they changed some of the formula's or something. They are now owned by Sherwin-Williams and you can probably get a better color custom matched with them rather than a big box store.



. . . . not an expert, just information provided by local S-W rep. . . . .

 

[PCustoms]

Yes, they changed some of the formula's or something. They are now owned by Sherwin-Williams and you can probably get a better color custom matched with them rather than a big box store.



. . . . not an expert, just information provided by local S-W rep. . . . .

I believe S-W bought them in 1996, so that original can just of been quite old.....

 

[NUTTSGT]

I believe S-W bought them in 1996, so that original can just of been quite old.....

Quite possibly. I don't know for sure. Maybe what she was talking about (recently over the last few years) was changing or deleting some of the "old" stock colors.

I was trying to find a can of "PURITAN PINE"

 

[The Cobbler]

I wouldn't be surprised that the formula changed to meet increasing environmental rules and profit margins while keeping a low price . Minwax has not been a great product for many years, advertising led us to believe it was but....

 

[StillTooManyHobbies]

Thanks for all the input. I have been able to find about 1-1/2 pints of the original formula, so that should finish this project. I also found a quart of the original formulation of "Fruitwood" if anybody is interested. I will probably return the can of new formula stain I bought.