Is LifeTime® a Wood Stain or Wood Treatment?

LifeTime® Wood Treatment is certainly a wood treatment! The lines between wood stain and wood treatment are a little harder to define.

The definition of a wood stain is a colorant suspended or dissolved into an agent (like water, alcohol, petroleum distillate, shellac, lacquer, varnish, polyurethane). Pigments and dyes are largely used as the colorants in the majority of wood stains. The particles of these colorants vary in size. Pigments are larger than dyes. In some hard woods, pigments are too large to penetrate the wood, therefore the dye would be the particles that do the coloring. Many stains also contain biocides and fungicides to help preserve the wood. These chemicals are not always, but can be harmful. We chose the word to describe our product because LifeTime® does more than impart a colours to wood. Its naturally occurring ingredients, combined in a proprietary formula handed down through three generations of Scandinavian woodcrafters, essentially "petrify" the outer surface of wood to create a physical barrier against water penetration. While LifeTime® Wood Treatment contains no colorants, it's action does cause wood to develop different shades over time, depending upon the species of wood to which it is applied.