I hate to throw anything away, especially anything that might be at all toxic, so before Christmas I used some 10 year old Watco Danish oil (natural color) to finish a sewing box I made for my wife. 20 days later and the finish is still stinking up her closet and oily to the touch.
The finish has been in a detached garage through severe winters for the past 5 years. However, it doesn’t show any sign of having frozen. It is nearly clear (amber), with no visible suspended particles, sediment or cloudiness.
This is tree-oil with a percentage of urethane to accelerate polymerization, right? So why hasn’t it polymerized?
So, the question is, what should I do now? Scrape the finish film off and reapply from a new can?
Maybe I just didn’t wipe it off thoroughly enough? I know that in the past I’ve seen Danish oil “weep” in the few days after applying, buy I’ve seen none of that, so I don’t think that I’ve left too much residue on the surface. Perhaps I’m confused as to the degree to which one is supposed to wipe the surface. I certainly didn’t try to get the surface “bone-dry”, but I wouldn’t describe it as “wet”. I’d say it’s like your hands feel 30 minutes after applying a good hand-balm (like Burt’s Bees). The thing is, the surface doesn’t appear to be getting any dryer.
Any thoughts?
Thanks!
Replies
Ten years makes it very old finish. A year if opened, a little longer if never opened is reasonable. Past that time frame I would want to make a test of possible drying problems. But 10 years--start finding out when your town's hazardous waste collection dates are.
I think you are going to have to strip it off entirely. See if mineral spirits will do the job. Or try lacquer thinner, which contains some stronger solvents. Scrape what you can. If these don't work you are talking about using a chemical stripper.
Watco, even when fresh shouldn't build on the surface. You want to wipe past "wet" to barely damp. From your description you may have not wiped quite enough, but you were pretty close.
Your finish is toast; it won't polymerize at this age (what reactivity it had it lost in the can in the dilute stage; it won't cross link now because there's nothing left to cross link). Toss it (I mean, dispose of it wisely and according to your town's HEW rules).
Wipe the piece as dry as possible, and retreat with new oil. Get rid of the odor by adding a shellac topcoat.
Thanks Pondfish. Good advice re the shellac.
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