Minwax Cherry vs Varathane Traditional Cherry
Minwax Cherry is a warm reddish-orange brown; Varathane Traditional Cherry is a warm reddish-brown that sits very close to it.
Pick Minwax Cherry to give pine or poplar a cherry-furniture look inside the Minwax system.
Pick Varathane Traditional Cherry for the same look when you want to finish in one afternoon.
How close are they?
Delta-E (perceptual color distance) between Cherry and Traditional Cherry is 2.1 (close enough that most eyes will not tell them apart on the same wood).
Side by side
| Cherry | Traditional Cherry | |
|---|---|---|
| Brand and line | Minwax Wood Finish | Varathane Premium Fast Dry |
| Color code | 235 | |
| Stain type | oil | oil |
| Hex (approx.) | #7A3826 | #7A3A2A |
| Lightness (L*) | 32 | 33 |
| Undertone | warm reddish-orange brown | warm reddish-brown |
Traditional Cherry is the lighter of the two by about 1 points of lightness on a 0 to 100 scale, so Cherry will hide more of the wood's own grain and color on the same board. Hex values are on-screen approximations of each published swatch; confirm on a test board of your own wood before committing.
How each behaves on pine, oak, maple and cabinets
Pine
Cherry: Pine's grain runs soft and uneven in density, so Cherry (a thin, deep-penetrating oil stain) is prone to blotching here unless the wood gets a pre-stain conditioner first.
Traditional Cherry: Pine's grain runs soft and uneven in density, so Traditional Cherry (a thin, deep-penetrating oil stain) is prone to blotching here unless the wood gets a pre-stain conditioner first.
Oak
Cherry: Oak's large, open pores soak up an oil stain like Cherry unevenly in a good way: it settles into the grain and makes the natural texture pop rather than looking flat.
Traditional Cherry: Oak's large, open pores soak up an oil stain like Traditional Cherry unevenly in a good way: it settles into the grain and makes the natural texture pop rather than looking flat.
Maple
Cherry: Maple is dense and tight-grained with almost no texture to hide unevenness, so Cherry blotches badly here without a conditioner or a test board first. This is the wood oil stains struggle with most.
Traditional Cherry: Maple is dense and tight-grained with almost no texture to hide unevenness, so Traditional Cherry blotches badly here without a conditioner or a test board first. This is the wood oil stains struggle with most.
Cabinets
Cherry: On cabinet doors, an oil stain like Cherry can lap-mark where one panel overlaps the next during application; wipe fast and work one door at a time to keep the color even.
Traditional Cherry: On cabinet doors, an oil stain like Traditional Cherry can lap-mark where one panel overlaps the next during application; wipe fast and work one door at a time to keep the color even.