# Finish Won't Dry



## RandyH (Oct 22, 2009)

I am working on a piece of walnut and used Watco Danish penetrating oil as the first finish. I applied it exactly as the contrainer instructs. The directions say that if you are adding another finish, such as polyurethane, let it dry for 72 hours -- which I did.

I then put on a thin coat of Arm-R-Seal by General Finishes. I believe this is a mixture of linseed oil and polyurethane. The finish went on smoothly and looks great. However, after 4 days it won't dry. It is sticky to the touch and doesnt't seem to be getting drier as each day passes.

Does anyone know why this happened and how to fix this mess?


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## Leo G (Oct 16, 2006)

Wipe it down with mineral spirits and get rid of the poly/linseed. The linseed oil needs to penetrate the wood before it will dry, but because the Watco is a finish with varnish in it, it has sealed the surface and the linseed oil is just sitting on the surface. Have you tried a heat lamp and a fan to accelerate the drying?


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## RandyH (Oct 22, 2009)

*That Makes Sense!!*

That makes sense... I'll clean the piece with mineral spirits as you suggest and go with a straight poly final finish. Thanks so much!


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## Leo G (Oct 16, 2006)

Tell us how it works out. This is only a theory of mine. Never had it happen to me.


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## joek30296 (Dec 16, 2009)

*Finish won't dry*

Randy,
I had a similar problem a number of years ago when I refinished my oak dining room table. I had used minwax stain because I liked the color. Then sprayed a coat of Sherwin-Williams Varathane oil base poly. Three days later it was still very tacky. I stripped it and did that 3 more times before I talked to someone at Sherwin- Williams. They told me there were some chemicals in the minwax that weren't compatible with the Varathane. Stripped it again, used Sher-Williams oil stain, 3 coats of Varathane (wet sanding between coats). Still looks great fifteen years.
Said all that to say that there may be some incompatibility between the underlying finishes and your topcoat.
Good luck.
joek


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