Hmmm. I added dye to the first coat of grain filler when I applied it to darken the deeper parts of the grain. After sanding most of it off I moved onto the staining. I was under the impression staining needed to be on the bare wood and that adding coats of grain filler first would leave a surface the stain wouldn't adhere to. I'm using Crystalac clear water based grain filler. It does say after application you apply the top coat. But I'm applying 4-5 coats of sanding sealer first so I can do a level sanding of the surface without reaching (hopefully) the grain filler layer or stain layer. Then the final Crystalac Brite Tone clear gloss finish. Probably 4-5 coats of that before final wet sanding and buffing. At least that's the current plan.