Wood stain won't dry

[Mrs. Reboot]

I stained our new desk 2 days ago with a second coat (I had done the first one the day before and it was dry). It still isn't dry. I now have the dehumidifier in the room and have wiped off another small bit of stain that was still able to be removed. I need to poly the desk, but don't want to just have a wet mess that won't dry. Any ideas???

 

[NickDanger]

Wipe it down. My understanding is that most stains are comprised of carrier and pigment. The carrier "carries" the pigment to allow it to be deposited into the pores (open cells) of the wood. The carrier is then wiped off. Sometimes, you have to be a little more aggressive in the wiping procedure. If you have gummy or splotchy areas, more stain (and therefore more carrier) will act as a solvent to allow you to wipe off any gummed up areas. Soft woods have closed pores and frequently stain unevenly. Hard woods have open pores and take stain more readily. That's what I read once.

You probably raised the grain and are planning to go over it with some superfine steel wool. That ought to help dry it out as well.

 

[tropheus]

I think you live in CA where its been fairly humid, right? I had a covered, but outside deck stained a few months back (March) and it took over a week before it dried due to humidity.

 

[BigWill]

use a rag with denatured alcohol

 

[NickDanger]

BW,

Was I on track about the carrier and pigment? Isn't denatured alcohol a carrier/solvent?

 

[Mrs. Reboot]

Just so y'all know, we did move back to Houston recently. That has factored in a bit! I sure would like to poly this desk, but I am guessing I need to wait until it is entirely dry. Any confirmation about the denatured alcohol from anyone else? I am game for whatever will work!

 

[Campus Loop(y)]

The humidity response is probably the right one. Esp. if you are back in Houston. Houston is humid in general but moreso lately w/ our current weather trends even in Austin. So that may have some to do w/ it. I made the big mistake once of painting w/ an oil based paint inside on a rainy humid day. Even though I had the windows open it made no difference. I got sick as a dog. It was miserable. So I always use flat non oil based paints now.

 

[ldogg53]

Mrs. Reboot...

Mrs. Dogg and I refinished all of our furniture in our guest room recently... we had the same problem... some pieces took up to 4-5 days to dry.... what ended up working best was getting some fans and having the air blow directly across the surfaces of the furniture.. an oscillating fan works great for that...