Varnish not drying..?

gingerninja72

Right, seem to be asking a lot of questions at the moment! Have just bought a 2nd hand pine dining room table, and we have stained the top using Wickes wood dye (this stuff http://www.wickes.co.uk/Wood-Dye/invt/600707 )

Now I'm applying clear matt polyurethane varnish, but it doesn’t seem to be drying? I painted on a thin layer (thinned with s small amount of white spirit, as per the tin instructions) on Tuessday evening, and it is still streaky and tacky to the touch this morning, ie 36 hours later. The table is in a big open plan lounge/diner, plenty of light/sunlight in there. Not really sure I understand, this stuff is supposed to be recoatable in 2-8 hours, and dry in 24 max.

Anyone got any ideas, or is it a simple case of just waiting and it will be OK eventually?

Queenriderbrekke

gingerninja72 wrote: »

Right, seem to be asking a lot of questions at the moment! Have just bought a 2nd hand pine dining room table, and we have stained the top using Wickes wood dye (this stuff http://www.wickes.co.uk/Wood-Dye/invt/600707 )

Now I'm applying clear matt polyurethane varnish, but it doesn’t seem to be drying? I painted on a thin layer (thinned with s small amount of white spirit, as per the tin instructions) on Tuessday evening, and it is still streaky and tacky to the touch this morning, ie 36 hours later. The table is in a big open plan lounge/diner, plenty of light/sunlight in there. Not really sure I understand, this stuff is supposed to be recoatable in 2-8 hours, and dry in 24 max.

Anyone got any ideas, or is it a simple case of just waiting and it will be OK eventually?

Did you already have the varnish? Is it old/out of date or possibly been stored incorectly?

Also has the tin of varnish got a help line/customer service phone number on it who might be able to advise you?

Hope all goes well and it does dry for you:)

gingerninja72

Its a brand new tin

Guess I'll just have to wait it out

Gloomendoom

How long did you leave the woodstain to dry?

latecomer

Does the wood dye tell you what kind of varnish to use?

gingerninja72

The stain was left 24 hours to dry

It said to use Wickes clear varnish, but they were so pricey, I sourced some elsewhere. It's still the same polyurethane based product, so can't see why it would make any difference. Weird. Oh well, hopefully it will be ok when I get home from work

jcb208

most of the 2010 compliant oil based paints,varnishes take for ever to dry 24hrs min and longer If the paint ,varnish has been applied heavly or to thick.Could be polish under the stain preventing the varnish from soaking in from drying

keystone

jcb208 wrote: »

most of the 2010 compliant oil based paints,varnishes take for ever to dry 24hrs min....

An interesting observation. I haven't found that at all.

Cheers

gingerninja72

Well its still tacky this morning - remember I applied the varnish Tuesday evening!

Using the table tomorrow night when mates drop rouind for dinner now looking unlikely! But it is better and seems to be less streaky. Guess its a small price to pay for having a massive table to eat at for years to come. Hopefully the 2nd coat will be a bit better

Thanks for replies folks

keystone

gingerninja72 wrote: »

Hopefully the 2nd coat will be a bit better

It won't if contamination on the substrate is preventing the first coat drying properly. Think you may have made a mistake not being prepared to fork out a "costly" tenner for a litre of Mr Wickes varnish. BTW I used some of the exterior version outside last week - touch dry in 45 minutes, second coat on an hour later and third all done by end of the day.

Cheers

gingerninja72

Well the stuff I got was Rustins, a good brand I would have thought, seem to appear in all searches

This stuff http://www.choiceful.com/choiceful-id-75778-Rustins-Matt-Finish-Polyurethane-Clear-Varnish-500ml.html