Furniture, Wood and Cabinetry Finishing - help help

Ok, When I'm done staining, why is the stain bleeding in some parts? Tiny little pin head size bubbles appear. It's driving me crazy! is this why i have to use steel wool once it dries? Thankz.

One applies stain, lets it sit the appropriate time, then wipes off the excess. Generally, this is just a few minutes.

How are you doing it?

Thanks,

Well, it's too late and it dried. Luckily they are only 3 small doors and it's not too bad though I think I'm going to have to redo them. Also the colors on the doors turned out different shades of walnut/red mahogony. What can cause difference in stain color? Sorry I'm really really new at this. I'm fixing to do the big doors in a little while. How can I get a glass feel on my cabinets? I have the minwax stain with no poly. What I did with the others is I applied the stain with a brush and just let them sit there. Maybe it was because my garage is so hot--it's Texas what can I say. Anyway little bubles starting appearing in certain areas though not too bad. When do I lightly sand again-when I finish putting the poly gloss at the end and when I do won't it ruin the finish and gloss if I sand lightly?

Most stains need to be wiped off shortly after application. This allows some stain to penatrate with all excess removed. You may be able to sand some off the excess off, if not try removing it with a thinner soaked rag. If you can't get it acceptable looking you will need to strip and start over. Generally to get a nice slick even shine you need to apply 3 coats of poly. Sand after each coat [except final], clean off the dust before appling next coat.
To recap 1st apply stain and remove excess with rag, let dry, apply first coat of poly, sand and remove dust when dry, repeat poly& sand/dusting and apply final coat of poly.

Thanks although this is where I get confused. If I sand after applying the poly won't it strip the stain off? What grit sand paper should I use for the cabinets? I would just hate to start over again. Also I stripped the paint thinner off on the big doors what type of sand piper can I use to remove the thinner that dried on there? I see tiny little clusters of thinner though not too bad but since they are the bigger doors I want to sand them off and see if that is what caused the color difference in the other 3 doors. I don't know what grade to get. I think I was using the really light sanding which is taking longer to remove. I believe it was the 380? Lots of Trial and error so far but I'll get it eventually :why_this: