Furniture, Wood and Cabinetry Finishing - Smelly Floors After Finishing
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TVGOD7
09-02-06, 10:17 AM
6 months ago, I wiped down my old (1956), still finished wood floors with denatured alcohol, lightly sanded them, wiped with tack cloth and applied 3 coats of a mixture of Minwax Polyshades (stain/polyurethane mix) and Tints-all in progressively less opaque coats. The floors are still emitting a chemical smell, especially in hot weather or after mopping with a non-chemical natural citrus cleaner, I've stopped using the citrus cleaner in case it was partially "stripping" the floors. The smell is sublter now, but still there. Any ideas?
XSleeper
09-02-06, 03:56 PM
It's hard to say what is causing your problems, but first of all, Polyshades is not recommended for use on floors. (source: http://www.minwax.com/products/onestep/polyshades-faq.cfm) I realize why you used it, but it's really not the right product for the application.
It also should not be used over lacquer, shellac, polishes or previously waxed floors or products containing stearates. (directions on the can) But perhaps you do not know what was previously on the floor or whether all waxy residue was completely removed.
It could be that the Polyshades is reacting with the previous finish. It could be that each coat of finish had not completely dried before applying the next. (despite what labels say about drying times and times to recoat, it often takes longer depending on drying conditions). Additionally, there is a big difference between what feels dry to the touch, and what is truely "cured". Polyurethane continues to cure and molecularly bond for weeks, even months after the product has been applied. Until the product is 100% cured, you would likely notice odor.
Also, I highly doubt that Minwax would recommend or stand behind your results when you have added another product- in this case, Tints-All, which is a glycol based additive that can also affect the curing time of the finish it is mixed with. Polyshades is already a carefully mixed chemical combination, and adding any other product to it would likely cause unknown results. So perhaps that is part of the reason you still have odor for such a long time.
I doubt there is any solution other than to continue to wait and hope that the odor goes away. If it doesn't, you would probably need to think about stripping it all off, which I'm sure you don't want to hear or even think about. :(
It also should not be used over lacquer, shellac, polishes or previously waxed floors or products containing stearates. (directions on the can) But perhaps you do not know what was previously on the floor or whether all waxy residue was completely removed.
It could be that the Polyshades is reacting with the previous finish. It could be that each coat of finish had not completely dried before applying the next. (despite what labels say about drying times and times to recoat, it often takes longer depending on drying conditions). Additionally, there is a big difference between what feels dry to the touch, and what is truely "cured". Polyurethane continues to cure and molecularly bond for weeks, even months after the product has been applied. Until the product is 100% cured, you would likely notice odor.
Also, I highly doubt that Minwax would recommend or stand behind your results when you have added another product- in this case, Tints-All, which is a glycol based additive that can also affect the curing time of the finish it is mixed with. Polyshades is already a carefully mixed chemical combination, and adding any other product to it would likely cause unknown results. So perhaps that is part of the reason you still have odor for such a long time.
I doubt there is any solution other than to continue to wait and hope that the odor goes away. If it doesn't, you would probably need to think about stripping it all off, which I'm sure you don't want to hear or even think about. :(