How can I get rid of the smell from a recently varnished bookshelf?
Question:
Answers:
Turn the heater up and go see a movie.
The paints today are much different due to the new air quality rules, but they still dry like the old ones, just not as quickly. Like one answer said, there are moisture cure urethanes. But if that was the case, it would have said it prominently on the label and it would have been very expensive.
Also, you may have put on too thick/heavy and the guy above me is correct about the solution.
Also, if the varnish is old, the dryers can lose their potency/effectiveness.
All you can really do is air out your home (or workshop.) It's springtime, but keep the windows and doors open all the time and wear sweaters inside.
hi
Peel and slide in 2 an onion and place near the unit
I take it you used a polyurethane varnish. Polyurethane polymerizes with the moisture in the air. Contrary to popular belief that it "dries" out, It is actually a chemical reaction between the air's moisture and the polyurethane.
You actually need to speed this reaction so it will procede more rapidly, once it is completed, the smell will be gone.
So adding moisture and providing more heat or temperature to the room here is the key. If this is a shelf or two you can spray those a bit with water mist and that will do the trick of adding moisture.
An electric heater blown on the shelf will speed the polymerize the process after misting as an increase in temperature speeds chemical reactions.
hello painter here!
oil based poly just needs time to dry out. open up the windows, put a fan on the window to draw the air out. and please please please DONT SPRAY YOUR FRESHLY POLY'D BOOKSHELF WITH WATER!! that will wreck it. if it's going down below 50 at night where you are, you have to shut the windows. letting the temp get below 50 will stop the poly from drying, therefore extending the smelling. the smell should be gone in a day or so. enjoy!
lj
use fresh varnish to start with
Well, if that was good and fairly new varnish(not something out of a can that has been sitting on the shelf for a couple of years) the odor will disappear as the varnish dries thoroughly.(which takes 3 days for oil based varnish). Any oil based paint takes that long. Which is normal. Spar varnish takes that long if not longer, and that long period gives a harder finish. Not to worry. It is the same as what was used on furniture for years and years (and they don't smell). Varnishing it and leaving it outside or in a cold basement is NOT the thing to do. Regular house temp is needed for it to dry.
If it is an older type varnish that you used, scavaging it from somewhere, you stand the chance of it not drying(at all). After 2 days, if it is still sticky(wet), you had crap for varnish. All you can do is wash it all off with paint thinner and redo with good stuff.
A little trick I use in my furniture making. This only works if you are using a low gloss or flat finish with your varnish. Take some powdered saw dust and rub it on the project. It picks up the damp areas that are causing the smell. Just buff down with steel wool OOOO git to polish the sheen.
The other item is try to coat the whole project in shellac. Use a 1 lb cut from actual flakes and not the premade junk. It will dry in 15 minutes and be sent free in 2 hours after all of the denatured alcohol has evaporated. You can get a kit at www.rockler.com or www.woodcraft.com. Just buy a color that is close to you finish product. If you want high gloss don't buff. If you want less gloss buff with steel wool.
Set in sun outdoors for a couple of days.
if you have used a water based poly keep it far from moisture and dont spray water on either way. Dont let it sit outside (under cover) in the damp night either, or your poly will break down and stay sticky for all eternity
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