# Staining Red Oak - Not Drying



## HLucia (Feb 28, 2013)

Hello, 
I bought red oak stair treads from one of the big box stores. I sanded them to a 220 grit finish then stained them with oil-based stain. I did two coats of stain, rubbed off excess stain after 15 mins for both coats. The last coat was done about 60 hours ago and the boards have been in 60-70 degree temps (not sure about humidity) and they are still not dry. There are many small wet spots on each board that don't seem to want to dry. What can I do about this? I want to make sure the boards are completely dry before the poly goes on as I don't want issues with the poly adhering to the boards. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Heather


----------



## Brian T. (Dec 19, 2012)

The pores in red oak should have been sealed with a paste filler. Sort of like putting putty in a nail hole. What's happened now is that your stain has literally soaked way, way down into those pores.
They are actually chains of open cells like soda straws. I'm afraid that your red oak is going to drool stain for a long time to come. That stuff needs air to set up/dry.


----------



## mengtian (Nov 8, 2012)

I use Red Oak all the time and mostly use a gel stain. Never had a problem. I di have a similiar issue using miniwax stain a bit ago but not as bad. I air dried them in the sun for a day and it was fine.

I don't use filler because I like the grain.


----------



## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

I believe the problem is you stained it twice and let it set too long. Normally you only stain one time and just let the stain sit for a few minutes before wiping it off. On large pieces I only stain part of it at a time because I don't want the stain to sit too long before I wipe it off. 

From where you are you could just wait for it to dry and I think it will or you could wipe it down with mineral spirits and let dry overnight. You should wait for the spots you are seeing to dry and you are correct it will interfere with the adhesion of the finish if you rush it.


----------



## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

HLucia said:


> I did two coats of stain, rubbed off excess stain after 15 mins for both coats.


From that statement it sounds like you applied two wet coats and then rubbed of the excess after 15 minutes. If you applied the first application, and allowed it to sit for a while, and without wiping any off, applied the second, you would have an extended dry time, like you are experiencing. Oil base stain works best if wiped on with a rag, allowed to sit for a minute or two, and wiped off. The first application should be wiped off and allowed to dry before a second is applied. In many instances only one application might be needed. The longer the first application is allowed to sit, the darker it can get.

Fifteen minutes is too long, especially if you piggybacked two applications. Using just mineral spirits may remove what is still wet, but will have limited effect on parts that have dried. If you want to remove a majority of the stain, wet and dry, use lacquer thinner. At the stage where you are, you may need to do an evening out of the results.









 







.


----------



## ricko (Feb 17, 2013)

I agree wipe it on , and dont wait to long and wipe off. Do small sec at a time . Then let it dry if you want it darker than re apply 2nd coat of stain, after first coat is dry .


----------



## Brian T. (Dec 19, 2012)

The pore filler did not mask the grain in 2,500 sqft of red oak flooring. But it was a deadly tedious job of sanding.


----------



## HLucia (Feb 28, 2013)

Maybe I was unclear in my initial post of my staining process as I followed the directions on the can exactly: I applied one coat of stain and wiped it 15 mins later, waited 24 hours, applied a second coat of stain to deepen the color and again wiped 15 mins later. I will wipe quicker next time, lesson learned. 

From other research I have done it seems that this is a common issue with red oak. And, good news, when I got home yesterday the pores are no longer leaking oil and the boards are dry!! I guess I panicked prematurely. I'm going to give it another 24 hours before applying poly to be safe. 

Thanks for the feedback!!!


----------



## HowardAcheson (Nov 25, 2011)

Here is what you can try. Use mineral spirits rubbed on with 3/0 steel wool. Rub in the direction of the grain. Use lots of paper towels to soak up the resulting gunk. Keep gong back and wiping until the treads stop bleeding back. Then let them dry 24 hours. See how they look. If then look OK, let them further dry for another 24 hours and then apply your clear coats following the instructions on the label.

Let me also say that sanding a hard wood like oak to 220 grit will not lead to good penetration of the stain. Hard woods should be sanded to no more than 180--no more than 150 if you want the darker color.


----------



## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

HLucia said:


> Maybe I was unclear in my initial post of my staining process as I followed the directions on the can exactly: I applied one coat of stain and wiped it 15 mins later, waited 24 hours, applied a second coat of stain to deepen the color and again wiped 15 mins later. I will wipe quicker next time, lesson learned.
> 
> From other research I have done it seems that this is a common issue with red oak. And, good news, when I got home yesterday the pores are no longer leaking oil and the boards are dry!! I guess I panicked prematurely. I'm going to give it another 24 hours before applying poly to be safe.
> 
> Thanks for the feedback!!!


 I would still wipe it down with mineral spirits. Not only has it been ozzing oil, it's been ozzing pigment with it. Your likely to have dark spots where it's been ozzing if you don't have problems with adhesion.


----------



## lacman (Mar 13, 2012)

Try wiping the wood with a 50/50 mixture of DNA (denatured alcohol) and water. I found that the darker colors of Minwax appear to have dye in them. The wash should neutralize the stain and make it possible to coat them with whatever finish you like.


----------



## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

Steve Neul said:


> I would still wipe it down with mineral spirits. Not only has it been ozzing oil, it's been ozzing pigment with it. Your likely to have dark spots where it's been ozzing if you don't have problems with adhesion.


Red Oak oozing?









 







.


----------



## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

cabinetman said:


> Red Oak oozing?
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Yes, red oak saturated with oil stain will ozze. It's really bad to do that if exposed to the sun before it dries.


----------



## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

Steve Neul said:


> Yes, red oak saturated with oil stain will ozze. It's really bad to do that if exposed to the sun before it dries.


So, just making sure I got it right, first saturate oak with stain, and then position it in direct sunlight?









 







.


----------



## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

cabinetman said:


> So, just making sure I got it right, first saturate oak with stain, and then position it in direct sunlight?
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I'm not suggesting that as a procedure. I'm saying if a person over-wet the wood with stain, wiped it off and set it in the sun to dry it would ooze stain out of the grain, especially oak. The shop I once had, had a lot of windows and from time to time an employee would stain a piece of furniture and leave it sitting near a window. Then as the day progressed the furniture would be in the direct sun and make spots all over it as though someone dripped stain with a eyedropper all over it. If not caught in time the furniture would have to be stripped again. Most of the time it could just be cleaned off with mineral spirits and sometimes lacquer thinner. I imagine the heat from the sun builds up air pressure in the grain and just pushed the excess stain out.


----------



## Bill White 2 (Jun 23, 2012)

Congratulations on finding the benefits of a MW product on oak.
Dye or Trans Tint are my colorants of choice when working with oak.
Bill


----------

