Best wood Tips and References website.
Wood Stain Not Drying. The two biggest reasons for stain not drying is: If that gel stain isn’t drying, then turn up the heat (and the dehumidifier).
This will take less than 2 hours. If you are having an issue with stain not drying it is usually going to be an oil stain or oils stain/dye stain combo. Otherwise, the uncured stain will cause lots of trouble and damage the wood as well.
Soak the rag in mineral spirits and apply it over the areas that have too much stain. Ensure not to leave existing stain coating on the wood. When you have removed the excess stain, let the wood dry.
To go to the next step, you need to make sure the wood stain is 100% cured. Usually a polyurethane varnish as the finish. Begin using light pressure while you clean, adding more pressure if needed to remove the excess stain.
If you are having an issue with stain not drying it is usually going to be an oil stain or oils stain/dye stain combo. This will take less than 2 hours. The cold weather outside where i was curing them did not help haha.
The stain turned out ok. It is not uncommon to get an oil based stain that has the color adjusted with dye. If that gel stain is drying unevenly, (and is only tacky in spots), then there may be some contaminant in the wood underneath.
The two biggest reasons for stain not drying is:
