Finishing and Refinishing

[wayne136]

Wow! Great information, Steve. That makes sense. I really appreciate the details of your response. Thank you! This was a good lesson to step up to the next level of finishing and not go for convenience.

I'm off to my catalogs to find the products you recommended. Thanks again!

Wayne

[JVS]

I would like to add my 2 cents worth to this discussion.  One of my past finishes developed what appears to be the same white "flaw" we are discussing in this thread.  In my case, the wood was well cured and shop conditioned red oak.  The moisture content of the wood checked at 8% at the start of the project which was ready for finishing in about a week.

The project was sanded with Mirka products to a final sanding of 220 and wiped clean of dust with a cloth lightly coated with paint thinner - a process I have successfully used many times before.  The thinner wipe was allowed to dry thoroughly before any other coating was applied.

The project was stained and finished with what are - according to the manufacturer - considered to be totally compatible finishing products - all Minwax.  The stain was Minwax Golden Oak that was applied in a heated shop during midwinter.  The shop is heated with a vented natural gas heater that was thermostat controlled at 70 degrees during the entire drying period.  The stain was dried for 2 days before the final finish was applied.  The first finish coat was a brushed-on coat of Minwax oil-based polyurethane.  After this first coat was dried (the next morning) it showed the white "blush".  The blush was definitely on (or in) the surface of the stain - between the stain and the poly coating.  The blush wasn't as predominant as the one discussed here - but it appeared in many places over the coated surfaces.  Again, the shop was maintained at 70 deg during the drying period.

To correct the "blush" problem, I scraped off the original poly and stain and re-applied THE SAME STAIN AND POLY FINISH - FROM THE SAME CANS AS BEFORE.  This finish was processed exactly the same as before and it came out fine - no blushing at all.  I have no idea what caused the original finish to blush the way it did.  I have been doing finishing long enough to re-produce the same finish again; so I am confident that the original process was fairly well repeated.

Jim Seelye

[whitedogstr8leg]

 Sometimes that "blush" comes from one's fingers.   After the stain is on ( and wiped off), there comes a time when a bare finger will check to see if the stain has dried.   The "oils" in the fingertip will cause a "blush" when the poly is put on.  Just wipe the stained wood with a little Mineral spirits on a rag, this will "clean the stained surface so that the poly will go on better.

  Ah yes, fingers!   "Is it dry yet?"  "Is the grain raised?"   All checked with your fingers.  A gloved finger won't tell you this things, so a bare (oily) finger is used.   BT-DT.  Just check all you want, BUT wipe the surface down before the next step is put on.

[martinandsandra]

What did Minwax say?

MRH

[nealmhr]

I'd e-mail Minwax, with the pics. They helped me before.

[JVS]

To whitedogstr8leg,

Are you saying that you think that an"oily" fingerprint on an oil stained surface is somehow worse than the surface of an oil stain that has been applied to a wood surface?  I am pretty sure that even the "cured and dried" oil stain surface is much oilier than my fingertip!!

Jim Seelye

[whitedogstr8leg]

  Think about what's in that "oily fingerprint" for a bit.    Of course< it never hurts to wipe down a stained project just before you apply the first coat of varnish.    You not only wipe up those fingerprints, but any "dust-bunnies" as well. 

[rufrider53]

It is moisture trapped in the finish. make a tight ball from non-linting cotton rag, dampen with rubbing alchohol, rub out the area and see if the white goes away. If it does, let it dry real good then apply wax with 0000 steel wool. you're done. If the white dies come back but lighter, repeat the rub process and let it dry again. this can sometimes take several attempts to get rid of the white but much easier the a stripping of the whole piece.