Hey guys this is not a flooring question but maybe you guys have some answers. We got new wood windows..and decided to stain them with oilbased minwax and then after quite a while put Minwax polyacrylic over them. Well we put them in and they all smell like the stain smell..we pulled them out out them in the shed now the shed smells like stain. Minwax first thought we had put too much stain..but the test they had us do proved otherwise. Why would the stain be smelling after applying polyacryclic...2 coats...any ideas thanks for any help inout you have,,

My only thought is . . . .I'll bet the new windows were pine, right? (If not pine, then pardon my post!)

Charlie

Yeah they were pine what are you thoughts on this. They are Brosco replacement sashes...should they have been primed and painted or what if we were to do it again how should we...the trim is all atain from 1979..thanks Lori

I meant to say the trim in the house is all stained...thanks l.klark

What is your implication regarding the windows being pine...we need some help with this.....what do you think happened? And if we got new windows how would you trest them..thanks a bunch..lori

What color did you use? If its dark or a red tone they may take up to a week to dry in high humidity. The smell should only be there for a short time, once the solvents have disapated then the odor should go away. If you top coated with finish before the solvents in the stain had time to gas off then you have dramatically slowed this by sealing over it. My suggestion take one of the windows sand it back down, let it sit over night to breathe then stain it again, let it dry as directed on the back of the can, then put you finish back on. BTW on the windows being pine, pine is generally a very soft and pourous wood it likes to really soak up the stain, this may be part of the problem, did you rag on and off or paint it on with a brush? painting it on will put it on too thick and the stuff will take for ever to dry. You should always rag off the excess when using a oil based stain.

I agree with Kevin. Pine is a bear sometimes.
Before putting on the polycrylic, put 1 coat of clear shellac over the well dried stain. This will help as a barrier coat to help adhesion of the water-based poly to the stain/wood. Don't sand the shellac after it dries. But within an hour of putting it on, you can put a coat of polycrylic on it. Wait 1-2 hours, lightly sand with 220 grit, then recoat with final coat of poly. Third coat may be applied if the wood "looks hungry".
Regular shellac can ONLY be used under water-based poly.
Charlie

Charlie: is shellac an oil based product? I was told if the stain still smells it isn't cured but it has been 2 months or more is it that the polyacrylic is not sealing the smell in? thanks a bunch Lori I just feel like all these windows are a throw away and we have to start all over..do you really think it is fixable?

Lori:
Like Kevin said, I'd resand to bare wood and start over. Something happened whereby the smells were not locked in OR did not dry enough in the first place.
Shellac is actually a bi-product from the lac beetle. Its natural form is a flake. The natives scrape it from the trees in India or Pakistan (?) after their mating season (?). Something like that. It disolves in alcohol. That's why it dries in about an hour.
Remember when M&M's used to say "Melts in your mouth, not in your hands!" It's because they put a coating of shellac on them. It's used quite often in the food industry. Used to be used in hair spray, too. . . maybe still is.
In my hippie days, we used to say "It's organic, man!" Same with shellac.
Anyhow, I digress.

You will still be able to smell stain even after it dries thoroughly. Then lock in any smells with the shellac.

Please, post again and let us know if our advise was sound, or not.
Charlie