Minwax Puritan Pine vs Varathane Aged Wheat
Minwax Puritan Pine is a warm tan-gold; Varathane Aged Wheat is a light warm wheat-tan, a bit paler and less golden.
Pick Puritan Pine for pine furniture and trim that wants a warm honey tone.
Pick Aged Wheat for a subtler lift on light woods, with less depth and less gold.
How close are they?
Delta-E (perceptual color distance) between Puritan Pine and Aged Wheat is 10.6 (a clearly distinguishable difference once you see them next to each other).
Side by side
| Puritan Pine | Aged Wheat | |
|---|---|---|
| Brand and line | Minwax Wood Finish | Varathane Premium Fast Dry |
| Color code | 218 | |
| Stain type | oil | oil |
| Hex (approx.) | #C9A06A | #C9AE84 |
| Lightness (L*) | 68 | 72 |
| Undertone | warm tan-gold, light-to-medium depth | light warm wheat-tan |
Aged Wheat is the lighter of the two by about 4 points of lightness on a 0 to 100 scale, so Puritan Pine 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
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.
Aged Wheat: Pine's grain runs soft and uneven in density, so Aged Wheat (a thin, deep-penetrating oil stain) is prone to blotching here unless the wood gets a pre-stain conditioner first.
Oak
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.
Aged Wheat: Oak's large, open pores soak up an oil stain like Aged Wheat unevenly in a good way: it settles into the grain and makes the natural texture pop rather than looking flat.
Maple
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.
Aged Wheat: Maple is dense and tight-grained with almost no texture to hide unevenness, so Aged Wheat blotches badly here without a conditioner or a test board first. This is the wood oil stains struggle with most.
Cabinets
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.
Aged Wheat: On cabinet doors, an oil stain like Aged Wheat 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.