Watco Danish Oil Not Completely Drying

[Keith Strong]

I am in the process of finishing a toy chest for my son with Watco Danish Oil. It has a solid cherry frame with cherry plywood panels. I think I may have "over done it" with the danish oil. I was putting on a coat a night, I am up to about 5 coats but I am to the point where it has not completely dried. Its about 90% dry after 3 days but still really tacky.

Did I put it on too thick? Should I try to remove some of the oil with a rag and MS? Should I wet sand? Or just leave it alone for a week. The pieces are in my garage, should I try to expose them a little to the sun? It has been extremely humid in Upstate NY until Wednesday. It just cooled off with the cold front. Thanks for your help.

[Tony Bilello]

I am in the process of finishing ... with Watco Danish Oil. ..... Its about 90% dry after 3 days but still really tacky. If you followed the directions on the can, it may never dry, but give it a few more days anyway. Tony B
Should I try to remove some of the oil with a rag and MS? If it doesn't dry, and I meam really dry in a few more days, I would remove it with MS. Tony B
.....should I try to expose them a little to the sun?.I for one dont like putting wood in the sun for any reason, it can lead to other problems like splitting or possibly warping. But that's just me Tony B......

I am definitely not a big fan of Watco although many on here are. An oil finish gives little to no protection from anything. If not hard coated, like with shellac, poly, lacquer, etc. it can bleed back out on hot humid days. If you splash it with water, coke or anything, it will stain the wood below.

[Prashun Patel]

Keith, take heart. I don't believe you're doomed.

Here's what I'd do - but take it with a grain of salt; I'm no expert, but have been before where you are now...

I believe you didn't let the coats dry adequately before recoating. This will cause the underlying coats to dry slowly.

Danish oil has a large oil component and a small varnish component, so if thick, it can get gummy. This is what you want to avoid. So, I'd wipe the piece down with mineral spirits. What you're doing is thinning the upper coats so that the underlying coats can dry better; you're not going to remove it all with MS.

If the piece remains tacky after the MS evaporates, then I'd repeat, until the piece is smooth.

Then leave it for a few days, and begin reapplying the Danish oil. Make sure you come back and remove all the excess a few minutes after applying. Increase your drying time, and increase the thoroughness of your excess-wipe-off.

[Scott Holmes]

Watco is an oil/varnish BLEND. It is not a film forming finish, it is an in-the-wood finish.

Proper application is to flood the surface letting it soak in for several minutes then wipe it DRY. You can also sand it in to help fill the pores of the wood, you still must wipe it dry. Repeat as needed. Leaving a wet surface will only get you a sticky gummy mess.

Try this test...
Put a small amount of varnish or wiping varnish on a piece of glass; it dries hard.
Put a small amount of Watco oil/varnish blend on a piece of glass; it dries wrinkled and soft.

[Keith Strong]

I think I am out of the woods. I rubbed as much of the tacky oily finish off with a good soaking of MS and a rag and then wiped completely dry with a fresh rag. It took about two days to dry to 98%, the finish was not consistent. I rubbed the finish out with 0000 steel wool. It is almost completely dry now. I assume another few days and it will be completely dry.

If I have to remove a little more of the finish is it possible to wet sand with 320 to 400 grit paper and MS? I have one part of the lid that may not completely dry?

[Gary Max]

Keith-------here's what I would do at this point.
Let it dry and buff it out-----I use a big auto detail buffer with a real thick pad.
Just go over it lightly-----it will flatten the finish out (instead of Sanding) and bring up a real nice sheen.

[Keith Strong]

Gary,
My concern is that it is never going to dry. It has been almost a week since the last coat of danish oil and it really has not gotten any dryer in the last four days. That is why I am thinking about trying to remove some of the finish by wet sanding it with MS.

[Mike Hollingsworth]

How about wiping with lacquer thinner?
I use Watco all the time.

[Matt Uchida]

If I may resurrect an old thread I have a similar problem. I bought an interior door (hollow) to put in my daughters room. Looks like a veneer or thin layer plywood on the outside. It had some interesting ripple and I really didn't feel like paint and primer. So I used some Watco Danish oil on one side when I had time. A few weeks later I added a second coat to one side and a first coat to everything else. Well now the part that had only 1 coat is dry but the part that got the second coat is tacky after a little more than 24 hours. Temperature about anywhere from 70 to 80 degrees, and this is Hawaii so a little on the humid side. The door is inside and mounted but there is decent ventilation through the house.
Not sure what is happening, ill list some ideas.

The first coat somehow sealed the wood so now the second coat isn't absorbing and drying in the wood?
I forgot to wipe on then wipe off a little while layer. The rag might have been a little on the wet side but I definitely was not painting or sloshing it on, it really didn't drip.

I plan on actually putting one or two layers of wipe on poly over the door just to seal it up but without making too much of a sheen.
Do I have to resolve the tacky issue or will the polyurethane seal it in either way?
I do have some mineral spirits I believe so I can try and wipe it down and see what happens. Maybe if I remove most of the tackyness then I can go over it with the Poly?

Thanks

[sheldon pettit]

Matt< do yourself a favor wipe off with lacquer thinner and scotchbrite and sand lightly and wipe dry and then let set for a couple of days, then apply some poly or wiping varnish, no more oil ok, Even lacquer is better than an oil finish.

[Prashun Patel]

You need to remove the wet watco. The second coat is meant to be wiped on thin. My guess is you left that a little thick. If you won't have lacquer thinner, you might be ale to soften and remove the wet coat with mineral spirits.

I would definitely not put any poly coat over any wet watco.

[sheldon pettit]

agreed!!!!

[Sam Murdoch]

The only times I have had a problem with Watco was with using old - 5 years or older stuff. Otherwise if you follow the instructions and don't leave a wet film to get draggy this is a nearly foolproof finish. As has been said Watco does not create a film it is a penetrating oil. If you allow it to dry on the surface as a film you end up with a mess. Wash off, resand and reapply. Wait longer than you think is necessary to apply a top cot like urethane or varnish, but if you are doing that anyway why even bother with the Watco?

[Matt Uchida]

I usually have danish oil work pretty well for me so this was a surprise. I am not sure exactly what thinnersI have right now. I think I might have some naptha and a few other types. I will report back when I try to get it fixed. However if it dries before then well lucky me!

Thanks

[Scott Holmes]

Actually, if it does dry, you will have a soft rubbery film finish that will easily scrape off with a fingernail. Oil/varnish blends do not produce a hard film finish.

[Matt Uchida]

Actually, if it does dry, you will have a soft rubbery film finish that will easily scrape off with a fingernail. Oil/varnish blends do not produce a hard film finish.
Can i put poly over that?

[Keith Strong]

I ended up putting it on too thick which caused the rubbery mess. It soaked up the first two coats good with out having any excess finish to wipe off. I kept putting the finish on with out wiping the excess off which lead to the soft mess.

To rectify the issue I wet sanded it off with mineral spirits up to 600 grit (i think). Wiped completely dry, let sit for a few days and then put on one really thin final coat. There is not much protection but I really like how it came out.

Matt - I wiped on poly on the inside plywood panels for added protection, no issues yet.



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[Jeff Hamilton Jr.]

That looks georgous Keith.

[Howard Acheson]

>>>> The first coat somehow sealed the wood so now the second coat isn't absorbing and drying in the wood?

That's exactly what it going to happen if you don't wipe off the excess after letting set for 15-20 minutes. Watco is not a film finish like a varnish. It is intended to be absorbed into the wood and dry there. If you don't wipe off the excess, it will impede if not prevent the absorption of any subsequent coats.

Also, read the application directions on the label and follow them. Two coats is all that should be applied to a particular surface. The surface is completely sealed after the second coat. Further applications just leave a non-drying oily residue.

When teaching finishing, I used to teach using mineral oil and 4/0 steel wool to remove semi-hardend oil/varnish mixture finishes. Rub in the direction of the grain and almost immediately wipe with lots of paper towels. Let it dry overnight and you should be left with the finish the manufacturer intended.