[vgaler]

I recently sanded my hardwood oak floors down to bare wood. I applied a first coat of minwax oil based stain, wiping it up with rags after letting it sit for 5 minutes, and let it dry over night. Everything looked great. Applied a second coat in the same fashion the next day, wiping it up as I went. Apparantly I did not wipe up enough when I did the second coat, because 48 hours later it was sticky and tacky to the touch. I then wiped down the whole area with 3 cans of mineral spirits and about a million rags. This helped a lot, but there are still trace amounts of stickyness throughout the floor. Additionally, the process of wiping the whole floor with mineral spirits has lightened some areas of the floor (removed some of the stain's color) and now it appears a little blotchy. No one else sees the blotchiness, but after two days scrubbing on my hands and knees I can see it. Before I spend another day wiping down the floor with mineral spirits to remove any excess pigments from the surface of the wood, could I apply a coat of stain to essentially dissolve these remaining pigments and then wipe them up with the newly applied stain? This would also even out any blotchiness that was caused from my first pass with mineral spirits. Or will this just make it worse?

Thanks in advance

 

[cabinetman]

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It will make it worse. Oil base stain is good for one application. A second application has little to no adhesion. If it was my floor I would strip the finish, and sand it back to wood.

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[Steve Neul]

I agree with cabinetman. You should never apply a second coat of oil stain. The sticky stain you have on there now will eventually dry. The bad news is when you apply a finish over the top, the finish will bond to the stain instead of the wood and will peal off. I would make sure there is no open flame in the house and wash the floor with lacquer thinner to remove any stain you may have on the surface.

I never leave a stain on 5 minutes either. I apply the stain and immediately wipe it off. If the color isn't dark enough then use a darker color.

 

[vgaler]

Thanks Steve and Cabinetman.

New problem. I sanded and restrained yesterday. Really wiped up the stain this time, I mean, it almost looked dry as soon as I was done. Now, 12 hours later, it is dry and doesn't feel the least bit sticky, but in some areas it is shiny and other areas dull. I'm guessing I possibly didn't sand it well enough in some areas and those areas are shiny now? You can only see the shine when the light hits it at an angle in those spots.
Is there anything I can do to fix this other than starting over a third time? Maybe buff it with a maroon pad, wipe it down with microfiber, anything? Or could I expect that applying a poly satin finish will even out the shine?

 

[HowardAcheson]

Removing non-cured pigment stain is a two step process. First, rub it down with 3/0 steel wool soaked in mineral spirits. Before it dries, wipe off the resulting gunk with lots of paper towels. Applying the mineral spirits with a rag will not get through the dried top film of stain. You need the abrasiveness of the steel wool to get through this top film.

At this point, I would suggest you use the steel wool and mineral spirits followed by the wiping up of the removed stain using paper towels. Let the floor dry and see how it looks. If it looks OK, let it fully dry for another 24 hours and then apply your clear coats. Don't rush the stain drying.