Minwax fast drying polyurethane dries to white haze

How far away did you hold the can? If too faraway, it will definitely leave a rough finish. Not sure about milky, but rough for sure.

Reply to
Dan Kozar
Loading thread data ...

Despite an old post, a relevant aspect (maybe) can be gleaned.

Stirring properly and following can instructions may have been a part of th e OP's problem, but I think moisture contributed to the issue.

The OP said the wood was stored in the garage (in essence, outdoors, cold t emps?), yet the work place was a "heated porch". He/she said the wood "... "feels" moist". He/she may not have allowed the wood's temp to acclimate t o the work place's higher temp, hence, there may (likely?) had been slight condensation on the wood surface. I assume, quick condensation formed on t he can's lid, also, apparently (again, I assume, by what the OP said) immed iately after opening.

In the OP's (I assume) colder climate location, plus the garage vs heated p orch immediate environment, there may have been a significant temp differen ce to cause some condensation, despite his/hers generally dry climate. A s ignificant temp difference, from garage to work place, can negate the gener al dry climate arena.

Op said he/she had used the product, before, with no problems. What might have been the difference in the two work scenarios, circumstances.... Weath er conditions, prep conditions, temp acclimation, something else, including can instructions?

Where was the poly stored? Was its temperature greatly different from the wood and/or porch area, also? ...and compare this to the previous "no prob lem" usage.

Sonny

Reply to
Sonny

Reply to
Swingman

Funny thing ... I was using these same rattle cans yesterday to do another couple of stain color samples and decided to change the spray pattern from vertical to horizontal; something that can be done with these new rattle cans with a twist of the nozzle, as you would expect with today's technology.

Lo and behold ... after making a few normal passes with the spray pattern to vertical, I changed the spray pattern to horizontal and the spray immediately came out milky/cloudy on the surface of the piece.

(Obviously a _moisture related_ phenomenon - most likely due to the expansion of the compressed gas changing the relative temperature (PV=nRT) of the different nozzle passages, then reacting with the hot humid air).

Didn't last long, but my initial reaction, and remembering this thread, was WTF?? ;)

Reply to
Swingman

This JUST happened to me? It is the oddest thing! I have never seen this happen before. I had stained my fireplace, waited a few days...then put on the polyurethane and it streaked it white...as if I had let water sit on i t or something. Did anyone ever give you a reason why this happened? I ha ve used the exact same polyurethane before and the product was great. I am so confused...hence I googled to see if anyone else has had this problem. Let me know if you have any answers.

Reply to
hinkshop

I had this problem with a table top, The way I fixed it was to sand the top down to nearly bare wood, wipe it good with mineral spirts, and let dry for several days. Then used a colored (pecan) varnish to finish the table. I have the first coat of varnish on the table, it has been drying for a couple days with no white specks

I beleive that some thing in the wood, stain and the clear varnish was being extracted to create the whiteness. I don't know it was the Minwax varnish, Minwax stain, or some thing coming out of the wood, or a combination of the three.

Reply to
knuttle

well, it's fast drying. So it has no retarder, or has a lot of driers (metals).

Generally is sounds like a humidity problem. Too high to use a fast drying product. When the humidity is high, a retarder is generally used. If you use a fast drying product, you get a haze.

Reply to
woodchucker

Metals are sometimes used to assist drying but are more commonly used as hardeners. A world of difference.

Jeff, I have been doing this professionally a long time. Do you mind me asking you how you came up with that? That certainly has not been my experience.

Robert

Reply to
nailshooter41

A long time ago, I sprayed regularly (lacquer (automotive) , dope (airplanes) imron (airplanes (both models and full size), buses, some cars) ) . Both for myself and for other people. Up here in the North East when it gets humid, I would have problems with hazing. So a little retarder would allow it to slow the drying process, and not fully trap the humidity into the finish. Without knowing the chemistry of it, I assumed it was : By slow drying it would get pushed out in the gassing off process of drying.

The retarder idea came from the supply shop I used to get all my paints from.

Reply to
woodchucker

Reply to
timothyhale63

Sounds like moisture contamination.

Reply to
Leon

It's definitely not moisture in the wood. The wood has had at least since 2009 to dry out. ;-)

Reply to
Gordon Shumway

Unless it was stored in a very damp environment. Or the humidity was extremely high.

I'd put a little of the poly on another piece of wood to see what happens as the first step.

Reply to
Ed Pawlowski

Yes it has been drying for years but if it was rained on it is no longer dry.

Reply to
Leon

I agree that this does not sound like a moisture issue to me. I have had various woods react to finishes which was caused by the internal oils of the wood reacting with the finish. I've seen many different types of reaction, so that would probably be my first guess with no other information.

I would do a couple of things - I would try the finish on a completely different piece of wood - a different type of wood. What is the result of that test?

I would try to find out exactly what your piece of wood really is. Teak is a wood that is often mis-identified. Monkeypod is often called Teak for example, and it's not.

I'd try applying a sealing coat of shellac to a scrap of the wood and then apply your finish. Any difference? If so, I'd go back to the notion that it may be internal oils. Very well dried woods can and will still weep oils out when a finish is applied. Shellac is a very good universal sealing to deal with this.

Get back with your results...

Reply to
Mike Marlow

Mike,

I think you missed the joke.

This thread was originally started in 2009, thus the wood should have dried out by now. ;-)

(Google Groups seems to have a habit of having threads that are extremely old suddenly pop up again. I see in it a.h.r quite often. I think it might have something to do with web forums that are "mirroring" usenet. Someone on a forum finds an old thread via a search, they respond and suddenly the thread becomes active again. Since GG and the forums are "putting and taking" from usenet, the threads show up everywhere. In GG it's evident that it's an old thread because the date is prominently displayed. I can't speak to newsreader apps or web based forms. Maybe it's not that easy to see that it is a really old (and probably dead) thread.)

Reply to
DerbyDad03

I guess it wasn't fast drying poly.

Yeah, I missed it too.

Reply to
Ed Pawlowski

Holy cow - I certainly missed that! Walking away a little embarrassed just now...

Reply to
Mike Marlow

replying to bw, Craig wrote: This is not an answer to the question. But I'm have the same problem. I'm refinishing a table and two end tables. My daughter wanted them painted a new color, so I am using Rust-oleum (espresso) with a wash . The set is over 50 years old, so nice and dry. The paint was no problems, looked great. I allowed the paint to dry for about 5 days. I live in the Arizona desert the temperature has been in the high 80's to mid 90's. The water based polyurethane was stirred very well (nothing on the bottom of the can). I used a brush to apply, and found it foaming every where, I mean real bad. Do they add a foaming agent to the product? I changed over and used a cloth to apply the rest and it seemed to work much better. I waited about 3 hours, I did a light sanding and applied a second coat and allowed to dry over night. The next day, I have white patches all over the place. Looks like garbage. Can I put and oil based polyurethane over the top ? Or do I have to start all over again and wast about 30 hours of time ? I have used Minwax for years and never had this this kind of problems. Is it something I did wrong or is it the product? HELP! Thanks Craig

Reply to
Craig

Hi all,

I had the same issue. Fast-drying Minwax semi-gloass ruined my Cabinet doo r with white streaks. It was like a chemical reaction craziness. Whatever t he cause was, I used a hair dryer. With the hottest setting, I took time. With patience, the streaks went away like a miracle. It was after 24 hours of drying. If I had use the hot air earlier, it might have taken less tim e. But hot air works.

thanks

Reply to
jaeandragon

HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.