Gel Stain is STILL STICKY!? Why and what to do :)

[@thekraftycreech]

Love how you did the background on your video, and great tips with the gel stain!

[@AskingSpot]

Thanks so much! 😊 I was having fun experimenting with video effects and unfortunately correcting my own mistake 😄

[@thekraftycreech]

@@AskingSpot haha!!

[@elettramia6380]

So if we correct the issue with mineral spirits what is the dry time on the mineral spirits? Also can you use a water based top coat over gel stains? Thank you. 😊

[@AskingSpot]

Mineral spirits evaporate fairly quickly but to be on the safe side I gave it a few hours. As a general rule oil can go on top of water based provided it is throughly dry. But if you are trying to do water base on top of oil you will more than likely run into a topcoat that will peal off/scratch easily. A wax can go over either but nothing can go on top of a wax coat.

[@AmandaDavis-yl3po]

I painted my railing with gel stain a number of years ago when it first came out. It dried this beautiful glossy black. It has since chipped. I cleaned it and then sanded it. I just reapplied the gel stain, did not wipe off because I didn’t the first time, and now I’m on 24 hours of it not drying…what do I do? Should I use mineral spirits like your video and wipe it off?

[@AskingSpot]

Because I am not there to see what you’ve done or what you’re working with, this may not be the exact answer and I’m not an expert. But that being said…I would guess yes, use a mineral spirits and proceed from there. You may have to use extra light coats, because there could be some residuals from the previous coats, which would make absorption an issue. Also if you have sticky results after the mineral spirits an hour or two later, you may need to do more mineral spirits. It should not be sticky/not dry before reapplying gel stain. Good luck

[@AmandaDavis-yl3po]

Thank you!