I built a white oak dinning table that I finished with water-based
poly. The surface of the table is extremely tacky now. I'm theorizing
that the water-based finish does not respond well to being cleaned.
Does anyone have any suggestions. At this point, I'm planning on
sanding down the table and refinishing with oil poly.

A little more information would be helpful.

1. Was there any stain or dye used on the oak before the wb poly?

2. Did the finish dry well originally then turn sticky? If so, how long
before it turned sticky?

3. If it never dried well, how long has it been since it was applied and
what has the weather been like.

4. What has been used to clean the table and how soon after the finish
dried was the first cleaning done?

Roger


"Doug" wrote in message
ups.com...
I built a white oak dinning table that I finished with water-based
poly. The surface of the table is extremely tacky now. I'm theorizing
that the water-based finish does not respond well to being cleaned.
Does anyone have any suggestions. At this point, I'm planning on
sanding down the table and refinishing with oil poly.

"Roger amd Missy Behnke" wrote in message
...
A little more information would be helpful.

1. Was there any stain or dye used on the oak before the wb poly?

2. Did the finish dry well originally then turn sticky? If so, how long
before it turned sticky?

3. If it never dried well, how long has it been since it was applied and
what has the weather been like.

4. What has been used to clean the table and how soon after the finish
dried was the first cleaning done?


F'rinstance, did you use something oil or wax-based on it?

-The table was stained with pigment gel stain first

-The poly was thinned and applied with a rag (6-7 coats)

-The finish dried fine

-The stickiness started about 8 weeks after use.

-The table has been cleaned with Murphy's oil soap, and nothing else.

On 15 Apr 2006 09:29:01 -0700, "Doug" wrote:

-The table was stained with pigment gel stain first

-The poly was thinned and applied with a rag (6-7 coats)

-The finish dried fine

-The stickiness started about 8 weeks after use.

-The table has been cleaned with Murphy's oil soap, and nothing else.

I would tend to think Murphy's law applies to the Murphy's Oil soap
leaving a residue which is sticky, try cleaning the table with
something which won't damage the poly but is a solvent.

Mark
(sixoneeight) = 618

I have used WB poly on tables used in restaurants. A lot of cleaning over a
couple of years with strong cleaners and they still look fine. For those I
sprayed on a varathane product. JG

Doug wrote:

I built a white oak dinning table that I finished with water-based
poly. The surface of the table is extremely tacky now. I'm theorizing
that the water-based finish does not respond well to being cleaned.
Does anyone have any suggestions. At this point, I'm planning on
sanding down the table and refinishing with oil poly.