How Long Should Stain Cure?

Vaughn McMillan

Administrator
Staff member
Messages
36,054
Location
ABQ NM
Trying to finish up a project for my sister, Part of it has an oil-based stain on it. (I generally dislike stain, but need to match some existing cabinet work.) I was just about done with it and wanted to just sand lightly with 400 grit to remove a bit of orange peel in the rattlecan lacquer finish. (I had a couple of light coats of lacquer over 3 or 4 light coats of spray shellac.) Two swipes with the sandpaper and I went through the finish (and stain) on a corner. Bad words were said.

I've now sanded the whole thing back to bare wood and re-stained the part in question. I'm planning to hit it again with shellac, but wondering how long you guys would let the stain dry before spraying the shellac. I'm keeping the project in the house now so it's at room temperature instead of the 45º in the shop. I'd like to get this thing done and off to-do list as quickly as possible so I can get on to other things. Your thoughts?
 
Thanks, Rennie. This is a custom color from Sherwin-Williams, but I suspect 2 to 3 days is probably a good safe bet. This can of stain had already been partially used, and of course the pertinent instructions were covered with drips and were unreadable.

Seeing as how this Christmas gift is already late, I guess another few days isn't going to change things much, lol.
 
Top