Hello,
I recently stained a pine table with an oil-based stain. Its cool and
wet around here right now so it has been taking its time to dry. I
wiped it down with some mineral spirits about 10 minutes ago. After a
couple of minutes everywhere I wiped is now milky white. Anyone have a
clue what I just did wrong? Is it fixable or do I have to start all
over?
Thanks!
"Greg" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Hello,
>
> I recently stained a pine table with an oil-based stain. Its cool and
> wet around here right now so it has been taking its time to dry. I
> wiped it down with some mineral spirits about 10 minutes ago. After a
> couple of minutes everywhere I wiped is now milky white. Anyone have a
> clue what I just did wrong? Is it fixable or do I have to start all
> over?
Wiping it down with mineral spirits was what you did wrong. Why mineral
spirits? You can try to wipe it off with a damp rag. If that doesn't work,
you may have to lightly sand all of the stain area and re-apply stain.
SH
What exactly was rubbing it down with mineral spirits supposed to do?
I'm thinking you're correct, the white stuff is a film caused by
reaction of the spirits with the oil in the stain that you can probably
rub off or sand off, but since I've never rubbed mineral spirits on a
freshly stained piece I can't say for sure.
Well, I put the table outside in the sun to help it dry (it was very
cool and dark in the garage). The table accumulated a lot of grit and
dust from the wind. I figured mineral spirits was better than water. I
didn't think it would have any effect. That was obviously a bad guess.
I definately won't do it again. :-)
Several people are confused why I used mineral spirits. Im curious why
it would ruin the stain? I obviously lack some fundamental
understanding of how all these chemicals interact.
Thanks, everyone, for all the info and advice!
Greg
OK here's a down and dirty solution. What you are experiencing is called
"blush" in auto paint terminology. Lacquers blush when there is too much
humidity. Painting a car with lacquer in on a rainy day is disaster.
There is a solution when you just have to do it.
I am including a couple paragraphs from a book I wrote a few years ago.
It is about auto painting, but I found it worked when painting
polyurethene on wood. With a minor experiment, you may find it works
with stain. I also included a paragraph on "fish-eye", I hope this
helps. For wiid working, I would measure a teaspoon of Retarder to a cup
of stain, and try it on pine.
Retarder-
In highly humid areas or on rainy days, lacquer will show
moisture in the paint finish. This is called "blush", and will
show as a white area, and can make a paint finish appear
blotched with color variation. The better the grade of thinner,
the less chance for blush. The only remedy for a blushed finish
is refinishing unless you catch the blushing immediately. Blush
can be eliminated by adding "Retarder" (buy at auto paint supply) to the
mixture of paint and thinner in the spray cup. A little retarder goes a
long way. It is "chemically hot" lacquer thinner.
Essentially it turns cheap thinner into a slower drying medium
thinner, which allows time for the moisture to rise out of the
paint. Retarder will raise a medium thinner to a good thinner
grade for drying purposes. Retarder is not recommended for use
on every paint job because it eats into the previous paint and plastic
filler, raising imperfections where they wouldn't normally show.
When blush begins to appear, I add 3 oz. of retarder to each
quart of thinned paint in the cup. It is advisable to wait for
several minutes between coats of paint to see if blush will
reappear. If it does, you may want to add another ounce of
retarder to the paint cup, or wait for more ideal painting
conditions. If blush appears after the final coat of paint,
spray a mixture of 80% thinner and 20% retarder quickly over the
entire surface. Overlap onto the older surface. This will
assure a good blend, it cleans the spray gun, and helps
eliminate blush. Remember, if blush is persistent, you have the
option of stopping until a less humid day.
When you have finished painting, return the paint remaining in
the spray cup to the can. Avoid problems, DO NOT return paint
with retarder to the can.
Fish-eye Remover-
Painters occasionally rely on an additive called fish-eye
remover. It is usually packaged in 4 ounce and 8 ounce plastic
bottles with pump tops. This product is an additive that only
requires one to four squirts of liquid in an entire quart of
thinned or reduced paint to do its job. Fish-eye remover
eliminates spots in the paint which resemble fish eyes. The
surface will show circles like oil drops on water, and unless
corrected, the paint finish will be ruined. The condition is
caused by oil vapor in the air (from spraying a silicone lubricant or
exhaust fumes), finger prints, contaminated paint, and dirt.
At the first indication of fish-eye, the painter adds one to
four squirts of fish-eye remover to his paint cup, and continues
spraying. Fish-eye remover will retard the hardening process
and increase flow out, which helps remove the fish-eye condition.
Some painters use the product in every cup of paint they
spray, as insurance against fish-eye. I don't recommend doing
this, because it changes the properties of the paint, and you
may not get uniform results in color and flow out.
Once fish-eye remover is used, continue using it for the rest of
the paint job, or the fish-eye remover may cause a fish-eye
condition of its own. Use fish-eye remover in both acrylic enamel
and acrylic lacquer. Follow the directions on the bottle
label. Fish-eye remover sold in a plain bottle without
directions or without a label has been transferred from a name
brand bottle, and could be contaminated or diluted.
It won't hurt it your stain, Greg. It will, however, spread it about just a
bit if you rub too hard.
Sounds like you got a bad cure due to age of finish - partially
cross-linked - or the temperature, which will give you a partial cure. As
mineral spirits is a solvent for the oil, it tried, but all it did was yank
the partially cured sticky stuff to the surface.
Temperature first, then look seriously at your oil stain and see if it's
sedimented. Take some wet/dry and some mineral spirits for solvent, clear
the top to even it out, perhaps a stain and fast wipe for color. Keep
things up near 20C/68F or be prepared for more of the same.
"Greg" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Well, I put the table outside in the sun to help it dry (it was very
> cool and dark in the garage). The table accumulated a lot of grit and
> dust from the wind. I figured mineral spirits was better than water. I
> didn't think it would have any effect. That was obviously a bad guess.
> I definately won't do it again. :-)
>
> Several people are confused why I used mineral spirits. Im curious why
> it would ruin the stain? I obviously lack some fundamental
> understanding of how all these chemicals interact.
> Thanks, everyone, for all the info and advice!
>
> Greg
>
Greg wrote:
>> Hello,
>>
>> I recently stained a pine table with an oil-based stain. Its cool and
>> wet around here right now so it has been taking its time to dry. I
>> wiped it down with some mineral spirits about 10 minutes ago. After a
>> couple of minutes everywhere I wiped is now milky white. Anyone
>> have a clue what I just did wrong? Is it fixable or do I have to
>> start all over?
>>
>> Thanks!
Is it raining where you are? Maybe you included humidity in the mix
someplace. I had stained a table top and then after12 hours put on a coat
of Minwax oil poly and then realized it was raining. This morning it was
nearly wet but not sticky and I said "duh" a couple of times and wiped the
surface with mineral spirits but it didn't turn milky white. Now I'm
waiting impatiently for the rain to quit and the air to dry before I touch
it again.
I used exactly the same combination of stain and oil poly a few days ago
when it wasn't raining and that piece looks fine. I'm guessing the rain
added something to the mix I didn't need and wonder the the same might have
happened to you?
Josie
On 10 Dec 2004 11:34:03 -0800, "Greg" <[email protected]> wrote:
>Hello,
>
>I recently stained a pine table with an oil-based stain. Its cool and
>wet around here right now so it has been taking its time to dry. I
>wiped it down with some mineral spirits about 10 minutes ago. After a
>couple of minutes everywhere I wiped is now milky white. Anyone have a
>clue what I just did wrong? Is it fixable or do I have to start all
>over?
>
>Thanks!
Sounds like there may be water under your finish.
On 10 Dec 2004 11:34:03 -0800, "Greg" <[email protected]> wrote:
>Hello,
>
>I recently stained a pine table with an oil-based stain. Its cool and
>wet around here right now so it has been taking its time to dry. I
>wiped it down with some mineral spirits about 10 minutes ago. After a
>couple of minutes everywhere I wiped is now milky white. Anyone have a
>clue what I just did wrong? Is it fixable or do I have to start all
>over?
>
>Thanks!
What stain was it?
Barry
"Greg" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> wiped it down with some mineral spirits about 10 minutes ago. After a
Why?
Not being critical - just wondering what that's supposed to do?