Water based dye stain not fully drying?

[Todd Stubblefield]

Hello,
I am finishing a sub-woofer box I built with a veneered walnut front. To start from the beginning, I really wanted and therefore tried to finish it with Zennser’s Bullseye Amber Shellac (not de-waxed). I cut it in half with denatured alcohol and tried the padding method. I could not get a consistent finish that I was happy with. Because the box is so big and it would dry on me so fast I gave up on the shellac. I have used shellac before successfully but never on a piece this big.
So in order to get a similar look I found the General Finishes amber water based dye stain and it gives a very similar color to the amber shellac. So I did a combination of wiping down the veneer with denatured alcohol and performed multiple sandings back down to 150 grit until all traces of the shellac were gone (or at least I thought I did).
I then worked back up to 220 grit, cleaned the surface and applied the dye stain. It has been 2 1/2 days and it seems fine to the touch, however if I take a clean shop paper towel and do a semi-firm rub down on the surface I can see very light traces of the amber coming off onto the paper towel. This is being performed in my air conditioned basement so it is not humid and the temps are probably in the mid to upper 60’s.
My plan is to now apply an oil based stain over top to get the final color I want, and then apply a few coats of Arm R Seal. From what the can said I should have been able to apply an oil based stain after 24 hours. I am not sure if this is normal to have a small amount of residual color show up on a rag when wiping a dye stain or if it is not drying for some reason. I made sure to wipe it down good after about 5 minutes when I applied it.
I am not sure whether to move forward at this point or if there is a problem how to fix it. I don’t believe sanding is an option at this point as I am pretty sure I am near the end of the veneer and will be into the MDF if I go much further. Is it possible that there could be minuet traces of shellac/wax in the pores that are keeping it from fully drying?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[glenn bradley]

From General Finishes website:

Always seal General Finishes Water Based Wood Stain, General Finishes Dye Stain and General Finishes Enduro Ready-To-Match (RTM) Water Based Wood Stain with 3 coats of topcoat. More coats will not improve durability.

Dyes normally require a top coat. I was curious so I checked their site for the product you used. Three coats of topcoat recommended.

[Todd Stubblefield]

Thanks for the input Glenn but I'm not really sure what that has to do with my question, lol. As stated, I will topcoat it with Arm R Seal but I don't know if that is safe to do if I can wipe the stain with a paper towel and have color residue come off. Is this normal before topcoating?

[Prashun Patel]

Typically stains have a sealer in them that prevents the color from lifting when the top coat is applied. If your water based stain has no binder then it is understandable that it will lift a little when you rub it even after it is dry.

However, that is the reason you may be allowed to apply another stain on top of it. If there was a binder, you could not apply a second coat of any color that wants to penetrate the wood.

Dyes are intended to act this way so you can reapply coats to get to a desired depth and darkness.

The reason to wait until such a dye is dry before applying anything over top is only to prevent the water from being sealed under any top coat which can prevent it from hardening smooth.

[John TenEyck]

It is not unusual for a little dye to come off on a clean rag even after it is completely dry. I'm fairly certain you will be fine moving ahead with your plan.

John

[Tom Bender]

Solid insight