Hey everyone, I'm in need of some guidance. I'm working on finishing cherry doors for a bathroom vanity and I've hit a hiccup with my polyurethane finish. I've applied three coats of Minwax oil-based polyurethane — the first two were thinned with mineral spirits, and the last one was straight poly. I waited about 24 hours between each coat, lightly sanding and vacuuming, and it was all going smoothly. However, after the third coat dried to the touch, I wiped it down with mineral spirits (maybe too much) and now it's been a sticky mess for five days! I'm not using odorless mineral spirits, and I think the humidity and temperature might have messed with the curing process too. I'm considering a few options to fix this issue: 1. Use more mineral spirits to try to dissolve what might be residue. 2. Use lacquer thinner, but I'm worried it might ruin the other layers. 3. Just wipe it down with tack cloth and proceed with adding another layer of poly. Any advice on how to resolve this and prevent it from happening again would be greatly appreciated!
1 Answer
It sounds like the mineral spirits might have softened your finish since it wasn't fully cured at the time. I'd suggest just leaving it alone for a bit. If it doesn't harden, then you can lightly sand it, wipe it with a tack cloth, and try adding another coat. I'd absolutely avoid using lacquer thinner though!
I heard it's pretty standard to wipe the surface with mineral spirits between coats, isn't it? Just making sure there's nothing left from sanding.