HELP: Problems with Gel Staining Bathroom Cabinets

10 years ago

In the process of re-staining oak cabinets using General
Finishes Gel Stain and the Gel Topcoat...following their instructional
videos the staining with just one coat seemed to work out okay (antique
walnut)...had let them dry for 4 days...warm inside the house (70
degrees) and low humidity everything seemed okay... started applying the
Gel Topcoat on and in random areas the topcoat removed the gel stain...

Question: how to fix the spots without having to sand the whole
sections back down and starting over??? Right now there is gel topcoat
on top so I will have to remove that just to add stain again... but need
to be careful as I just want the one coat of stain as I don't want it
any darker)

General Finishers does not have an email or phone to contact
them..their website says to contact the dealer you bought it from, which
for me was Amazon...so that will not help.

Thanks!!!

*Also, is there a reason to sand in-between application of top coats? I'm now worried more stain will come off as I do know the gel stain sits more on top (even though I removed the old polyurethane coat)

Problem cabinet door below...several inches...

Featured Answer

PRO

Sombreuil

10 years ago

There was some substance on the doors that prevented the stain from drying properly.Could have been anything from bath oil to hand lotion. I have never had luck touching up spots like that without going darker on the whole thing.

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Comments (6)

klem1
10 years ago
Plus 1 on everything he ^^^^ said.
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salex
10 years ago
What they said, plus yes, there is a reason to sand between topcoats. At that point you shouldn't be sanding into the stain - just the topcoat. And the purpose of it is to remove slight imperfections in the topcoat's surface and give the next coat a better surface to adhere to. If you want to convince yourself, test this on two pieces of stained wood: don't sand one between coats, and do sand the other between coats. The one that wasn't sanded will likely end up more like it has a thick "wrapper" of topcoat as opposed to a clear smooth coat.
like_jane thanked salex
like_jane
Original Author
10 years ago
Thanks! I just re-sanded the area back down to the original and started
over with the Gel stain and the Gel Top Coat...still had the same
problem with one section (but was the backside of drawer), but the other
section worked... I had a large bottom cabinet and upper cabinets with
mirror and light frame already stained, so I needed to follow through
and make it work as they say...would not use or recommend these products
to anyone else!!! Gave plenty of dry time in a warm and low humidity room... sanded before applying gel stain and during top coats..but for whatever reason the top coat removed the gel stain... oh well....
girlnamedgalez8a
9 years ago
I gel stained my kitchen cabinets a couple of months ago. In my research prior to starting I read about this problem. A video that I watched said to spray the stain with shellac prior to applying the top coat.
PRO
Dream Home Finishers
9 years ago
I'm not a fan of fell stain. Never like the results