Stain wiped off when applying poly...HELP!

[burrellski]

I'm trying to finish up a wine cabinet as a gift for my parents to be presented this weekend. I applied a Varathane oil based stain (less than 1 year old can, worked fine on another project) yesterday. Let dry over night and started to wipe on Varathane oil based poly thinned about 50% with mineral spirits. Everything was going fine till the rag became brown. What I ended up with is this. There are streaks all over the place where the stain just wiped off, and one spot is kind of circular. Its like it just didn't stick. There were no noticeable problems when applying the stain or after the stain dried. Its not glue marks. Any idea what happened, and more importantly, How can I fix it?

[Ken Massingale]

That looks like Red Oak.
A coat of Sinnser Sealcoat would have prevented the blotching.
As for how to fix it, sanding everything down to a uniform color would be best, then apply Sealcoat. You may not have time for that. Try a test area in a hard to see part of the project, apply some sealer on the blotch and the area around it. It will dry quickly. Carefully apply stain to that sealed area and let it dry. Then apply the poly.
Red Oak has 'hard' areas that don't take stain uniformly, especially aged stock, and lots of very porus areas that soak in stain.
Good luck,

Oh, see item 4 here http://www.rustoleum.com/product.asp?frm_product_id=80&SBL=1#The%20stain%20 I%20just%20applied%20is%20uneven%20and%20blotchy.% 20How%20do%20I%20fix%20this

[burrellski]

It is Red Oak. Admittedly, my finishing experience is pretty slim, but I thought "blotchy-ness" would show up when staining. This looked fine until the poly was applied. Would Red Oak ply be subject to the same blotchyness? I have always heard people talk about blotches in Pine. I had no idea Red Oak was prone to the same issues. I've built a few other items out of Red Oak and never had any problem before.

I'll get some seal-coat or something and try that. Does it need to be sanded before applying stain?

Thanks

[Ken Massingale]

RO is weird like that. One piece will stain fine, it's brother will blotch. Due to issues like yours I've made a habit of using Sealcoat on almost everything. It's cheap and dries quick so it doesn't add much $$ or time to a project. Yes, I have had RO ply do the same thing. A light rub with good 0000 steelwool is all that is needed after the Sealcoat drys.
The Sealcoat at Lowes and HD is not where you would expect, it is in the section with the primers. A gallon was around $20 and will last a very long time.

[burrellski]

Next question....

I have several pieces that go along with this cabinet (drawer, shelves, etc...) that have been stained but not yet clear coated. Is there a way to prevent any blotches from appearing at this stage in the game?

[Ken Massingale]

Next question....

I have several pieces that go along with this cabinet (drawer, shelves, etc...) that have been stained but not yet clear coated. Is there a way to prevent any blotches from appearing at this stage in the game?

The Sealcoat can go over the stain with no problem. the Poly will sit on the sealer so the stain should be fine, assuming the stain is dry.

[burrellski]

Great. I'd hoped you would say that.

Thanks for the help Ken.

[Brian G]

Let dry over night and started to wipe on Varathane oil based poly thinned about 50% with mineral spirits. Everything was going fine till the rag became brown.

I speculate that over night wasn't a long enough time to let the oil based stain dry, and that the oil based poly thinned with mineral spirits simply put the stain back in solution.

[Ken Massingale]

Great. I'd hoped you would say that.

Thanks for the help Ken.

How's the wine cabinet coming along burrellski?

[Jeffrey Schronce]

I speculate that over night wasn't a long enough time to let the oil based stain dry, and that the oil based poly thinned with mineral spirits simply put the stain back in solution.

I agree. I don't think it was the material as the problems would have been noted prior to applying the solvent based finish.
I disagree a little on the sealcoat prior to staining, but definately think a coat after staining would work well to prevent problems with oil based finish. The alchol in the shellac should not be a solvent for the stain. It will dry quickly, though I would allow overnight prior to applying finish.

As for the area that is damaged you can try using that can of mineral spirits and a rag to see if it will blend. If not wipe off as much gooo as possible with MS then sand down.

[burrellski]

I should mention that that stain dried about 24hrs before the first attempt, not just overnight as I said earlier.

Anyway, the sealcoat definately did the trick. Thanks Ken. I applied a coat to everything that I hadn't already applied poly to (removable shelves, back, drawer, etc...) and they turned out great. Where I had applied poly, I sanded down the face, top, and some random ugly spots, seal coated, stained, fussed with trying to match the stain, swore some, fussed some more, etc... applied poly, and it turned out pretty good. I can still tell a few spots where I touched it up, but the wife swears she can't find them.

Thanks for all the help

Matt