Water stain on Seal-A-Cell

[Steve Wurster]

I've got a small water stain on a surface finished with Seal-A-Cell. What's the best way to remove this? DNA, Mineral Spirits, something else? Thanks!

[John TenEyck]

Got a photo? If not, what kind of water stain, a dark ring or a white ring, or something else? FWIW, Seal-A-Cell is a poor finish by itself. It's a good sealer but needs something over it for real durability.

John

[Steve Wurster]

It's a light white stain. No pic at the moment, sorry.

And I'm not stopping at Seal-A-Cell; I just noticed the stain while getting ready to apply Arm-R-Seal, so I'm holding off until I can resolve this stain.

[Wayne Lomman]

You can try rubbing it out with the recommended solvent, but given that it is urethane based, you might as well start sanding. If you evenly sand the full length of the board the stain is on, you can recoat that board up to the same stage as the rest and then continue for the whole job.

The problem is that urethanes are a catalysed material where the chemical reaction is not reversible. If it was shellac or nitro, solvent would fix it no worries as they just dissolve back to their original form and let the moisture out. Cheers

[Steve Wurster]

It's a 6 foot long table top... I really don't want to sand the whole thing again! :-)

[John TenEyck]

Some people swear by this stuff: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...=ATVPDKIKX0DER

Worth a shot. I think Liberon makes a product, too, and maybe Mohawk. If nothing like that works, I you should be able to sand the affected area and blend in some new Seal-A-Cell, assuming there is no stain or dye underneath. If there is, and none of the chemicals work, I think you are in for a complete redo.

John

[Wayne Lomman]

Of course you don't want to sand it again. That's why I recommend just sanding the affected board. You only need to sand it enough to even the colour out before you start recoating. Cheers

[Steve Wurster]

Update: I sanded the affected area and removed the water stain, then reapplied Seal-A-Cell over that area. After that I lightly sanded areas as needed to remove any differences in sheen or texture between the original areas and the area where I sanded. It looks great now, and I should be applying Arm-R-Seal this week. Thanks for the help!

[Wayne Lomman]

That's good Steve. Good luck with the rest of it. Cheers