Poly Stain....Yikes! Help....

[Heather Deans]

Hi all- I should have checked here before I even started this project, but I'm hoping for any words of wisdom that can help me salvage my current project. I'm building three large bookcases for a coworker, and after three months of her rejecting stain colors, I finally picked a little of everything and made a board of samples with out thinking too much about what I was putting on it. The color she picked was an polystain (not polyshades, but that sort of finish) and having never used the stuff before I didn't realize how heinous it would be. In all fairness, the shelves turned out beautifully- as soon as I realized how careful I would need to be. The bookcase carcasses on the other hand look horrible. I guess they were just big enough that I couldn't get the stuff on fast enough for it not to start drying. So now I've got really nice shelves and horrible blochy carcasses. I used foam brushes as recommended and finally managed to get the corners to look ok, but the backs started drying before I could get them even. I tried spraying and brushing to get the stuff on faster, but even that didn't work. I can sand it down a little, but most of the carcass is oak veneer ply, so I have to be really careful. I saw someone suggest in an archived post thinning it out with mineral spirits and wiping it on... how thing would you recommend? Should I try to sand it out or should I actually try to strip it with something? Suggestions?

[Tim Sproul]

I've never used the stuff....but shellacing a large piece has similar problems in that the finish starts drying before you can sneeze.

I don't think there is much for you to do at this point other than to carefully try and remove what's on there. 'Poly' could be anything but I'd guess it is some sort of varnish or might even be the expected polyurethane mixed in with the stain. If there is some varnish or polyurethane or other filming topcoat mixed in, you can't just add mineral spirits after the fact. Also, thinning the finish before applying to help slow down flash/dry times will also affect the coloring since the stain will also be thinned.....a bad thing since you've already stained the shelves using the finish at 'out-of-the-can' strength.

I'd sand down the stuff as best you can and then reapply, working in one area at a time. Start with a fine grit and move more coarse as you're willing to trade off increased risk of sanding through the veneer for speed. For getting finish into inside corners, I find tapered round brushes work well....much better than flat brushes or foam or wiping with rags or such. I get these brushes from Lee Valley but I'm sure there are other sources.

Can you mimic the poly stain by getting the same manufacturer's regular stain and then applying a bit of polyurethane over that? I'm assuming the poly stain is similar to colored danish oil - a mix of stain/colorant, solvent and topcoat. Danish oil uses BLO and stains for the colorant, a solvent and varnish all mixed together. Sounds like poly stain uses stain and polyurethane to reduce the number of finishing steps, just like danish oil.