Stain not drying

[Rennie Heuer]

Does anyone have experience with Varathane wood stain? I purchased a quart of this stain yesterday because the color match was near perfect to a piece I am building for a customer. The piece I am building will sit next to other store-bought pieces and I needed to get as close as possible to the color.

It is an oil based stain. I applied it yesterday to a test scrap for color match. Following the directions I allowed it to soak in and then wiped off all the excess. I let it dry overnight and attempted to put a topcoat of Old Masters gel polyurethane over it this morning. Most of the color came back up in the rag! The can says it must dry two hours before second coat or eight hours before top-coating. I had left it about 14 hours before top-coating.

The only thing I can think of is temperature. I left the shop shortly after applying the stain and droped the heat in the shop to 55°. The can says it must be applied between 60 and 90°. Could this 5° difference have that much of an effect on the drying?

 

[Jim DeLaney]

The temp might have been the cause. I've had 'low temp' problems in the past.

Like you, I keep the shop's temp at 55° when I'm not out there, but if I'm doing finishing I generally leave the temp set at 70~72° overnight. Haven't had a problem with finish drying since I started doing that. YMMV...

 

[Bill Arnold]

I rarely use oil-based products anymore, but I don't apply finishes if the outdoor temperature is below 55-60°F. When I spray, I use an exhaust blower that draws in outdoor air. I have a heater in my shop that keeps the temp from dropping below 50°F for my comfort. When we do get a cold snap down here, I wait until it warms up again to do any finishing.

 

[glenn bradley]

I'll chime in on temps and humidity too. Even in sunny SoCal I avoid applying oil based products when the weather is wet or (what we call) cold. The good news is that if I have to move forward, it generally only takes another 24 hours of cure to reach "normal" despite the cold or wet. I can then apply my top coat. During cold or wet weather I do re-visit the piece more often to wipe the surface if weeping is occurring.

 

[larry merlau]

another vote for to cold.. been there as the others said..

 

[Dave Hawksford]

How well did you stir the varathane ? I don't like using oil when its below 70. The night time temps will keep it from drying. You can use a product called , Japan dryer , just a couple drops will help the drying process when used in lower temps.