Golden Oak vs Puritan Pine
Golden Oak is the classic warm gold-brown associated with 1990s/2000s oak cabinetry; Minwax's Puritan Pine ("honey pine" in common usage) is lighter and leans more tan than gold.
Pick Golden Oak for a deeper, more saturated gold on oak furniture or cabinets.
Pick Puritan Pine for a lighter, more understated warm tan, especially on pine rather than oak.
How close are they?
Delta-E (perceptual color distance) between Golden Oak and Puritan Pine is 10.8 (a clearly distinguishable difference once you see them next to each other).
Side by side
| Golden Oak | Puritan Pine | |
|---|---|---|
| Brand and line | Minwax Wood Finish | Minwax Wood Finish |
| Color code | 210B | 218 |
| Stain type | oil | oil |
| Hex (approx.) | #C08A4E | #C9A06A |
| Lightness (L*) | 62 | 68 |
| Undertone | warm honey-gold, classic oak-cabinet tone | warm tan-gold, light-to-medium depth |
Puritan Pine is the lighter of the two by about 7 points of lightness on a 0 to 100 scale, so Golden Oak 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
Golden Oak: Pine's grain runs soft and uneven in density, so Golden Oak (a thin, deep-penetrating oil stain) is prone to blotching here unless the wood gets a pre-stain conditioner first.
Puritan Pine: Pine's grain runs soft and uneven in density, so Puritan Pine (a thin, deep-penetrating oil stain) is prone to blotching here unless the wood gets a pre-stain conditioner first.
Oak
Golden Oak: Oak's large, open pores soak up an oil stain like Golden Oak unevenly in a good way: it settles into the grain and makes the natural texture pop rather than looking flat.
Puritan Pine: Oak's large, open pores soak up an oil stain like Puritan Pine unevenly in a good way: it settles into the grain and makes the natural texture pop rather than looking flat.
Maple
Golden Oak: Maple is dense and tight-grained with almost no texture to hide unevenness, so Golden Oak blotches badly here without a conditioner or a test board first. This is the wood oil stains struggle with most.
Puritan Pine: Maple is dense and tight-grained with almost no texture to hide unevenness, so Puritan Pine blotches badly here without a conditioner or a test board first. This is the wood oil stains struggle with most.
Cabinets
Golden Oak: On cabinet doors, an oil stain like Golden Oak 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.
Puritan Pine: On cabinet doors, an oil stain like Puritan Pine 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.