So I am redoing the original oak floors in my living room, we sanded them down so that we could re-stain the floors. Sunday night I did the first coat of stain and wiped the excess stain off, let it sit and then Monday night I did the second coat and again wiped the excess stain off. Now (Tuesday night) it seems the stain is still way too thick, and of course it has dried... I just tried using mineral spirits (recommended on several websites) to get the extra layer off but it literally did nothing....

I REALLY do not want to have to start over from the beginning.......

Any suggestions???

The best way to remove excess stain is to buff with #2 steel wool. This is a gentle way to abrade the stain off. Flooring distributors carry steel wool pads that fit under a floor polisher/buffer. You will need to use hand sized pads that are sold at the hardware store to get the edges, and may use them to hand polish the whole floor if you don't use a buffer. Stain will penetrate the surface to seal the wood. The extra will polish off, but leave a dull surface, which you will need to "re-stain", again, to get an even shine over the whole floor. It may seem like a basic process to re-stain, but it will take some effort to get it all done.