General Finishes Dye Stain Problems


Spunjin

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I have not experienced this until now.  I have used GF Dye Stain before on several different projects involving different materials and the same methods prior to staining and finishing.  I have used different finishes as well and never had an issue until now. 

I am refinishing my kitchen table top, it is a pine laminated top from IKEA that I purchased 7 years ago used before my wife and I got married.  Now that we have 3 kids the top is scratched and dented so it was time to refinish it.  I sanded through the grits to 220 and sealed with Bullseye SealCoat to control the blotching.  Then I wiped on GF Light Brown Dye Stain and let it dry.  When I went to seal the stain with shellac, the stain lifted right off the surface.  Again, I have done this many times when staining and finishing my shop cabinets and refinishing a coffee table for a client.  What changed?  I don't get it. 

I restained and waited over night before applying shellac again thinking the stain didn't have enough time to bind.  This time I sprayed the shellac.  No problems until I put on a slightly heavier coat and then shellac lifted the stain up once again.  How frustrating.

Anyone have an experience like this with the dye stain?

Is there a way to prevent this from happening in the future?

Thanks.

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I don't have a lot of experience with dye stains or stains in general because it's against my religion...but I imagine a gel stain would be better to apply on top of a seal coat.  GF dye stain is water based and probably works best when it's applied to raw wood.  To help control blotching, wet the surface with water prior to applying the stain.

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The shellac you thinned by 50% was a 2 pound cut. So you actually put down about a 1 pound cut of seal. We like to use 1/2 pound cut as a sealer. Fine sanding with 320 will also act like a sealer...fine sanding will actually burnish the wood fibers reducing a stain/dye take.

 

Since the piece is over sealed and when you applied your shellac over the dye stain. You re-wet and lifted the original shellac seal coat.

 

Due to this piece being previously stained  and topcoated and stripped. I doubt the wood is that thirsty to blotch. You probably would of been better off to wet the wood unsealed with water and applied the dyestain.

 

 

-Ace-  

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i don't think i would have used the shellac prior to the dye.  i would scrape off the base shellac/wipe down and scrape with alcohol prior to using the dye and use the dye directly on the pine.  when i have tried to put dye on shellac it just sits on top.  maybe if you really cut down the shellac as suggested above with alcohol and only use a single very thin coat it will work. 

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