I finished a project a few months ago with boiled linseed oil, and it turned out great. Since I had read that you should reapply BLO once a month for the first year to keep the finish looking good, I did that three days ago.
Sadly, I went from memory and applied a liberal coating and left it to dry overnight. That left a sticky, glossy finish which looks horrible. I guess I should have applied a light coat, and used a cloth to dry off the excess before it dried.
It seems that the BLO did not penetrate the wood at all.
Is there anything I can do to remove the sticky BLO coat, or do I need to sand it off ?
Thanks,
Jon Arnar
Replies
OHhhhhh You've Done It Now
: )
It is a good thing you used boil linseed oil instead of raw.
Hmm
Most of what I use that is similar , and I admit to leaving some on that I should have wiped off, eventually dried. Don't put any more on for like a year unless it seems to have really "hardened" up.
You could hit it with a hair drier and or keep it where it is quite warm as oposed to in an air conditioned room. Warmth, 70s F to 100 F , will excellerate the curing of the finish; a few months instead of many months.
Alternatively you could try to wipe it down with paint thinner, NOT paint stripper, to get some of the fresh stuff off. I have never done that. In theroy the stuff that has been on there for months will not be effected by the thinner and the new oil will let go and come off.
Yah . . . maybe not. Is there any part that you could test out this THEORY on with out causeing a blight if it doesn't go well ?
I think most people here will say strip it with paint striper and start over.
IN ANY CASE DON'T EVEN TRY TO SAND IT OFF. It will be like sanding bubble gum. (which doesn't work). You will just waste a bunch of sand paper.
just put the
paint thinners to it an rub it off. it should clean up. wipe all residue off dry. next day apply another coat of blo, rub it in and wipe it dry. if you leave a film of oil on there it will happen again.
ron
Mineral spirits applied with 3/0 steel wool with remove the uncured BLO. Apply, rub in the direction of the grain and then wipe off all the resulting gunk with lots of clean paper towels. Let the surface fully dry and then you can apply another coat wiping off the excess after letting it set for 15-20 minutes.
Let me say that BLO is a very poor finish. It has no resistance to water or water vapor nor does it have any resistance to abrasion. It continues to get more amber for its whole life until it crystalizes and becomes powdery. There are lots of much better appearing and protective things you can use.
So . . .
. . . are you saying that BLO sucks, so to speak? ;-)
Yup, but is is OK to pop the grain. In other words, use it as a colorant.
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