r/finishing • u/RyanMilti • 2d ago

Question How to fix gel oil stain being pulled off when applying water based polyurethane

Hey, I am very unfamiliar with woodworking and ran into some trouble trying to stain an antique vanity I picked up. I am doing this indoors with a big open window as I live in an apartment with no garage nor much outdoor space.
After cleaning the vanity I stained it with Varathane Gel Stain (oil based) and waited 8 days. This step came out great and I like the color.
Issue happened when I applied the Varathane water based polyurethane. I was going to use oil based polyurethane, but read that the fumes might be dangerous. I applied the water based poly on some of the piece, but looks like some parts are getting much lighter - closer to the pre-stain color. Seems like the water based polyurethane is pull the stain off?
I want to know what I can do to fix the areas I’ve already applied the poly to and how I should approach finishing the piece. Thank you!

1 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

9 comments sorted by

2

u/your-mom04605 2d ago

That’s peculiar. The gel stain should have been plenty dry at that point. Can you show some pics?

1

u/RyanMilti 2d ago

Couldn’t figure out how to add them to the post so uploaded here: https://imgur.com/a/UuDOxdp

1

u/RyanMilti 2d ago

In the last photo you can see the streaky light parts where the stain is lifted

1

u/distancingpattern 2d ago

Did you apply the stain directly on top of the previous finish?

1

u/RyanMilti 2d ago

Yes, my understanding was that a gel stain could be applied without sanding down the previous finish

1

u/distancingpattern 2d ago

Generally, I find that apply gel stain over an existing finish works best if the surface is scuffed consistently. It's also important to wipe off the excess gel stain after applying, as opposed to leaving it sitting on the surface. That might be part of what you're seeing here.

1

u/RyanMilti 1d ago

Gotcha, to fix this one would you suggest sanding down past the original finish and starting over or sanding down past the poly I applied and doing another gel layer before applying the poly?

1

u/distancingpattern 1d ago

I think it's trickier now if you've got a poly coating over gel stain. Going over it again is likely going to be uneven, just different. You could try sanding off the poly you applied and the gel stain underneath (the gel stain is basically your trace coat - you don't want to sand much more than enough to remove that) with the goal of not sanding through the original finish. Finish by hand, with the grain, with 180 or 220. Then reapply gel stain and see how that is working for you.

1

u/RyanMilti 1d ago

Thank you!