I think I’ve screwed up my lacquer finish and I need some advise. I had sprayed the finish (several lite coats of Deft-spray cans) on my project and had used steel wool (0000) on the final coat. Early Saturday morning (before having enough coffee to be alert) I started to wipe it down with a tack cloth lightly soaked with mineral spirits, as I have successfully done before, to clean it down. Only this time I had too much mineral spirits and, instead of evaporating, it soaked into the lacquer. When I realized what I was doing, I grabbed a cloth rag and tried to wipe off the excess but those places have not harded yet (2 1/2 days later).
Will the mineral spirits eventually evaporate and let the lacquer harden, or have I done something that will make it stay soft and tacky forever?
Replies
Are you sure you used mineral spirits. I've never seen mineral spirits damage lacquer, even new lacquer.
Whatever, I would suggest you plan to strip off what you have and start over.
It was Klean-Strip oderless mineral spirits, Howie. I did get it on pretty heavy and it was probably 2 or 3 minutes before I tried to wipe the excess off. I turned the heat up in my shop today and put a fan on it. It seems to have dried up a little more since then. I was hoping that stripping it off and starting over would be a last resort.
toolman50 ,
You might try washing it down with lacquer thinner and then sanding before stripping .
good luck dusty
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