Rainy day means no varnishing: right?

3 years ago

I have a project I’ve been working on in the garage. My husband is very sensitive to fumes so I do as much as possible in the garage. I finished the staining but I still need to varnish. Planning to use Poly, wiped on, thin diluted coats. All oil based: I don’t like the look of water based finishes. (At least nothing I've tried yet. But it's already stained, so I can't change now. )

I live in the Chicago area where it’s getting too cool out to finish. Today is probably our last warm day. It will drop down into the 40’s in the day time from now on. 30’s overnight. I can set up lights to provide a little bit of warmth with the garage door closed, but that does nothing for the humidity.

It’s 70 degrees out now, but it’s raining.

I assume the very high humidity means varnishing is out of the question. The finish gets fogged, right? I REALLY want to finish this project but don’t want to ruin it either.

Thanks.

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Comments (3)

User
3 years ago
I remember less than 75% humidity. Not less than 55 degrees.

Are the instructions on the can?
linnea56 (zone 5b Chicago) thanked User
linnea56 (zone 5b Chicago)
Original Author
3 years ago
Nothing about humidity, other than "may affect drying times".

Temperature is described as 77 degrees being optimal. I doubt if I have EVER varnished anything at close to that temperature. Seems like every fall I have some project going. And every fall I run out of good weather, without knowing for sure what % of humidity is too high, and what temperature is too low.

But I'm not sure how far to push it. I now have an insulated garage door. But I don't know what kind of difference that would really make.
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krissie55
3 years ago
last modified: 3 years ago
50-80 F. with 45-55% humidity is a good range. I prefer 75 F and less than 45% humidity. As you already know, oil will take longer to dry than other types. Wait until it is completely dry, no tacky feel, before putting on a second coat. That could be days or weeks.
linnea56 (zone 5b Chicago) thanked krissie55