Early American vs Red Mahogany
Early American is a moderate reddish-brown; Red Mahogany goes considerably deeper and redder, closer to a traditional formal-furniture mahogany.
Pick Early American for an everyday furniture-brown look with a warm red undertone.
Pick Red Mahogany for doors, banisters, or formal furniture that wants a genuinely deep red-brown.
How close are they?
Delta-E (perceptual color distance) between Early American and Red Mahogany is 14.6 (a clearly distinguishable difference once you see them next to each other).
Side by side
| Early American | Red Mahogany | |
|---|---|---|
| Brand and line | Minwax Wood Finish | Minwax Wood Finish |
| Color code | 230 | 225 |
| Stain type | oil | oil |
| Hex (approx.) | #7B4A34 | #5C2A22 |
| Lightness (L*) | 37 | 24 |
| Undertone | warm reddish-brown, one of the most popular Minwax colors | deep warm red-brown |
Early American is the lighter of the two by about 13 points of lightness on a 0 to 100 scale, so Red Mahogany 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
Early American: Pine's grain runs soft and uneven in density, so Early American (a thin, deep-penetrating oil stain) is prone to blotching here unless the wood gets a pre-stain conditioner first.
Red Mahogany: Pine's grain runs soft and uneven in density, so Red Mahogany (a thin, deep-penetrating oil stain) is prone to blotching here unless the wood gets a pre-stain conditioner first.
Oak
Early American: Oak's large, open pores soak up an oil stain like Early American unevenly in a good way: it settles into the grain and makes the natural texture pop rather than looking flat.
Red Mahogany: Oak's large, open pores soak up an oil stain like Red Mahogany unevenly in a good way: it settles into the grain and makes the natural texture pop rather than looking flat.
Maple
Early American: Maple is dense and tight-grained with almost no texture to hide unevenness, so Early American blotches badly here without a conditioner or a test board first. This is the wood oil stains struggle with most.
Red Mahogany: Maple is dense and tight-grained with almost no texture to hide unevenness, so Red Mahogany blotches badly here without a conditioner or a test board first. This is the wood oil stains struggle with most.
Cabinets
Early American: On cabinet doors, an oil stain like Early American 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.
Red Mahogany: On cabinet doors, an oil stain like Red Mahogany 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.