Finishing Question

I’d take a scraper to it and redo. Should be an easy fix.

-- You can't get a hug from Facebook.

Thanks. I will give it a try.

Tom

Your hand must of been contaminated with something…..
Did you come right with the scraper?
Usually if a surface gets contaminated with an oily substance, even face oil/sweat it will act as a barrier to anything you want to paint. Depending on the paint. If I suspect that it is contaminated I give it a wipe with benzine. That neutralises all oils.

-- "Even small steps makes a distance." (Shawn Phillips, musician)

Hi notottoman. The wood had stain applied and then I applied the Waterlox. Perhaps the surface was
contaminated after the stain was on. If I scrape down to bare wood I should get rid of the contamination.
What would benzine do to the stain that is on the wood already? Any ideas? Thanks.

Tom

Tom,

From what I have read, I assume the Waterlox did not take to the area where the hand print is.

The only fix is to sand, scrape or strip that shelf back to bare wood and re-stain and recoat with Waterlox.

I think you will spend more time trying to repair this “spot” and it will never blend it in correctly (the stain).

Benzene is an old term for Toluol or Toluene. A very strong solvent that will strip the stain below right off; you might also try mineral spirits or paint thinner, they remove hand oils, etc just as well.

Hope this helps.
Chip Schaffner – Waterlox

Hi Chip. Yes, it looked to me like the stain was fine but the Waterlox didn’t take.
I scraped back to the bare wood and stained again. However, I didn’t do the whole
surface but only in the area of the hand print. Once the stain is completely dry I will
try to reapply the Waterlox and see what it looks like. It is on the bottom of the
shelf, and the shelf is about 5 inches off the ground. So, it won’t be too noticable
in any case.

Thanks for the tip on the Benzene. I will avoid using that over the stain. It sounds like
the mineral spirits or paint thinner should be fine on a dried oil-based stain?

Thanks for the information.

Tom

Thomas sorry i’m getting back to you this late…h2olox
I have never had benzine strip my stains off. Never. ! ! !
I use it all the time. And swear by it. When i’m about to spray my work and i’m suspicious that ther might be some oil or silicone contamination on my surfaces… I wet my rag with benzine and give it a good wipe. This way I am sure that i will not get any bleeds of fish eye due to the contamination. NB ! Like I said this I do prior to painting. Read my first post.
Hey—it works for me.!
Thinners will dilute your stain,,,, THAT will strip anything off. Depending if it was a penetrating or matching stain. And what base the stain is composed of.
Maybe our products are different in name an chemical make up than in the States. Mineral spirits here we call Turpentine. That is oily and used mainly for enamel paints and the like. You cannot use mineral spirits or thinners on a water based product…. It just does not work.
Yes you might just have to sand your shelf down and start again.
Try it out—you will see i’m not talking junk !

No malice or a confrontation is intended in this post…. ’-)

-- "Even small steps makes a distance." (Shawn Phillips, musician)

notottoman you mentioned not using mineral spirits with a waterbased product. its turpintine up here to but contrary to the name waterlox is an oil based. so the stain im assuming is also oil based. that is where the problem with the benzine would come. it would take oil based right off but water being more chemical resistant i could see that working.

specifying the bases of different finishes helps alot!!

Thanks for enlightening teenagewoodworker (what a long name to type) LOL :-)

-- "Even small steps makes a distance." (Shawn Phillips, musician)