robgraham wrote:
Am I only now catching up with this instruction on the back of the
tub that possibly everyone else has seen ? :-

"3. Smooth over with a wet knife before dying"

I did look at that several times and at 71 did worry about it a bit!
I did even go and check the dictionary. Yes, that is the present
participle of 'die' and not 'dye' (dyeing) as perhaps they meant -
ignorant b******s. But why not use 'stain' as appears a couple of
lines further on, and in the context is far more meaningful.

Because they meant 'drying' - smooth over before drying - it's nigh on
impossible afterwards, no matter how wet the knife is