English Chestnut vs Red Mahogany
English Chestnut is a reddish medium-dark brown; Red Mahogany is deeper and more saturated red, a clear step further in both depth and redness.
Pick English Chestnut for warmth without the stain reading as a strong "red" color.
Pick Red Mahogany when the project specifically wants a mahogany-furniture look.
How close are they?
Delta-E (perceptual color distance) between English Chestnut and Red Mahogany is 8.9 (a clearly distinguishable difference once you see them next to each other).
Side by side
| English Chestnut | Red Mahogany | |
|---|---|---|
| Brand and line | Minwax Wood Finish | Minwax Wood Finish |
| Color code | 233 | 225 |
| Stain type | oil | oil |
| Hex (approx.) | #6A3A26 | #5C2A22 |
| Lightness (L*) | 30 | 24 |
| Undertone | warm reddish medium-dark brown | deep warm red-brown |
English Chestnut is the lighter of the two by about 6 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
English Chestnut: Pine's grain runs soft and uneven in density, so English Chestnut (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
English Chestnut: Oak's large, open pores soak up an oil stain like English Chestnut 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
English Chestnut: Maple is dense and tight-grained with almost no texture to hide unevenness, so English Chestnut 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
English Chestnut: On cabinet doors, an oil stain like English Chestnut 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.