Sticky furniture staining?
Question:i sanded my bedset. then i stained it with minwax staining stuff. its a dark color, and i like it, but its been over 12 hours and its still sticky.
now, i did this on a whim, i dont know anything about staining furniture, which i admit might be a little stupid, but was i supposed to like add a top coat or something?
cuz its still sticky and i have guests coming over and they're going to be using my bedroom. :(
Answers:
There are 3 main reasons for a "sticky" coat of stain.
1. Improper preparation. If stain isn't applied to bare wood, it floats on top of the previous finish and takes longer to dry.
2. Improper application. Too many coats applied too quickly or coats applied too thick.
3. Improper conditions. If it is very humid or very cold, the stain will take much longer to dry.
There really is no quick solution to your problem. You'll just have to wait. But whatever you do, don't apply anything else on top of what you've already done. That will just make matters worse.
Once the piece has completely dried, you should apply a polyurethane top coat to seal and protect it. Apply thin coats, let them dry completely, and sand lightly between coats.
Usually it says on the container how long you are supposed to let the stain set for. Also, how thick you put the stain on affects how fast the stain dries. Hope this helps.
Our daughter recently had a similar problem with MinWax stain. It never did get un-sticky (she waited 3 days) and in the end, the furniture needed to be stripped and she needed to start over.
What we think happened to her was that she did not have the old finish completely removed, so the stain could not sink into the wood like it's supposed to. It just sat on the surface being sticky, although it got a little better as the water in it evaporated.
Don't apply a MinWax polyurethane coating. It completely liquified the sticky stain.
Did you sand all the original finish off? Perhaps the stain is being interfered with by a dirty base?
Read the label on the can. I don't have a can handy but have used that type of stain frequently. I believe it says you should apply the stain to a clean, dry stripped wood surface, wait about 15 minutes, then wipe all residue off to let then it dry.
If it says that, I recommend you apply another coat (to apply the relevant solvent again) and then wipe it thoroughly after about 5 minutes.
Or try a paint thinner as solvent to remove the stain that did not penetrate.
Couple of things can cause it as mentioned..
Old finish not completely removed or esp if it is a gel stain not completely wiped off.
In either case the quick fix would be to wipe the piece down w/ mineral spirits & start again when the guests leave.
Don't expect too much from restaining esp when going darker.
Hardwoods eg.can take just so much stain before it becomes a waste of time.
Stains are meant to penetrate the wood to some degree & if built up as a "coating" will leave you in the present situation.
Once thoroughly dry ,several thin coats of a "clear" finish coat should do.
Dark finishes are the most difficult to handle without having them look like mud & are best achieved w'/ spray equipment.
For diy the easiest would be danish oil,tung oil or shellac.
You can also get a decent finish w/ spraycans if youre careful.
Best regards.
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