I've an old can of Minwax (oil-base) stain (dark walnut) thats been in the
basement since sometime in the 1980's. It's contents look gelatinous.

Does anybody know if I can thin it with mineral spirits or ? to make it again
usable?

Thx,
Will

Wilfred Xavier Pickles wrote:
I've an old can of Minwax (oil-base) stain (dark walnut) thats been in the
basement since sometime in the 1980's. It's contents look gelatinous.

Does anybody know if I can thin it with mineral spirits or ? to make it again
usable?
....

Sure, if you can get the solids re-suspended--you may need to strain it
if some aren't so willing any longer...

--

On Sat, 22 Jan 2011 14:51:41 -0600, Wilfred Xavier Pickles
wrote:


I've an old can of Minwax (oil-base) stain (dark walnut) thats been in the
basement since sometime in the 1980's. It's contents look gelatinous.

Does anybody know if I can thin it with mineral spirits or ? to make it again
usable?

Thx,
Will

You might be able to revive it but a new quart can of Minwax is about
$8. Is your project worth the additional $8?
--
Jack Novak
Buffalo, NY - USA

"Nova" wrote in message
...

You might be able to revive it but a new quart can of Minwax is about
$8. Is your project worth the additional $8?

Hell, MY time alone is worth the eight bucks.

Dave in Houston

On Sat, 22 Jan 2011 16:03:01 -0500, Nova wrote:

On Sat, 22 Jan 2011 14:51:41 -0600, Wilfred Xavier Pickles
wrote:


I've an old can of Minwax (oil-base) stain (dark walnut) thats been in the
basement since sometime in the 1980's. It's contents look gelatinous.

Does anybody know if I can thin it with mineral spirits or ? to make it again
usable?

Thx,
Will

You might be able to revive it but a new quart can of Minwax is about
$8. Is your project worth the additional $8?

What are you talking about? The old product is now mimicking the new
gel stains.

If it shakes up OK, he should try it on a scrap and see if it dries.
(I'd add "without mottling" but stains just do that, so I won't.)

--
Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, drink the wild air...
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson

As somebody else reported a month ago...the new Minwax stain is crap. I
believe they reported it contained some wax compound or something....I
forget. Urethane bubbles on top of it after allowing it to dry over a
week.This never used to happen, years back.

I have an oak staircase to resand and refinish now.


"Nova" wrote in message
...
You might be able to revive it but a new quart can of Minwax is about
$8. Is your project worth the additional $8?
--
Jack Novak
Buffalo, NY - USA

On Jan 22, 8:15*pm, "Josepi" wrote:
As somebody else reported a month ago...the new Minwax stain is crap. I
Jack Novak
Buffalo, NY - USA

Urban legend I would think. I've used it by the gallons over the years
and never had a problem then or now.

SonomaProducts.com wrote:
On Jan 22, 8:15 pm, "Josepi" wrote:
As somebody else reported a month ago...the new Minwax stain is crap. I
Jack Novak
Buffalo, NY - USA

Urban legend I would think. I've used it by the gallons over the years
and never had a problem then or now.

I don't know...I suspect this is in reference to the Polyshades product
not the original oil stains. If so, I have to agree in my assessment of
it as an inferior product w/ my one-time experience of trying to help
patch up a started job by elder daughter on her kitchen cabinets.

--

My old stuff isn't a problem either. My new stuff was.

I am not an "urban" and it wasn't my myth.

Maybe sticking with matching brands would have helped.


"SonomaProducts.com" wrote in message
...
Urban legend I would think. I've used it by the gallons over the years
and never had a problem then or now.



On Jan 22, 8:15 pm, "Josepi" wrote:
As somebody else reported a month ago...the new Minwax stain is crap. I
Jack Novak
Buffalo, NY - USA

On Jan 23, 2:50*pm, "SonomaProducts.com" wrote:

As somebody else reported a month ago...the new Minwax stain is crap. I
Jack Novak
Buffalo, NY - USA

Careful when you quote. Jack didn't say that. The sock puppet did.

Urban legend I would think. I've used it by the gallons over the years
and never had a problem then or now.

Nor have I.

I was forced to start using it when folks went to HD or Lowe's (when
they carried it) and picked out colors. I never had a problem with
it, and as a matter of fact have found it to be quite good.

Guess it depends on the applicator.

Robert

Guess it depends on the applicator.

Robert

I think some people also expect oil stains to somehow act like paint
and turn any wood the exact color on the can label. Not realizing it
is an art with many factors such as the type of wood, how the wood is
prepared, how the stain is applied, etc.

I say this from experience because I only learned this via the school
of hard knocks and by making lots of mistakes and finally I stopped
blaming Minwax.

In article f8f750b3-b21f-45f8-a117-
, says...

On Jan 23, 2:50*pm, "SonomaProducts.com" wrote:

As somebody else reported a month ago...the new Minwax stain is crap. I
Jack Novak
Buffalo, NY - USA

Careful when you quote. Jack didn't say that. The sock puppet did.

Urban legend I would think. I've used it by the gallons over the years
and never had a problem then or now.

Nor have I.

I was forced to start using it when folks went to HD or Lowe's (when
they carried it) and picked out colors. I never had a problem with
it, and as a matter of fact have found it to be quite good.

Guess it depends on the applicator.

How bad can stain be? I mean either it turns things brown or it
doesn't. And even a piece of crap can do that.

How bad can stain be? *I mean either it turns things brown or it
doesn't. *And even a piece of crap can do that.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

OK, using the turd analogy is perfect. I have a fresh, dark walnut
brown turd and and some finely sanded hard maple. I expect the turd to
make the maple dark walnut brown. I rub some around on the maple and
it looks pretty brown. then I wipe the maple down with a clean cloth
and the maple is hardley colored. This turd is **** I say. I expected
this turd to turn that hard maple dark walnut brown.

Replace "turd" with Minwax.

In article aff0a801-ddf2-4c4d-be7b-3bb36f7b8f01
@u9g2000prm.googlegroups.com, says...

How bad can stain be? *I mean either it turns things brown or it
doesn't. *And even a piece of crap can do that.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

OK, using the turd analogy is perfect. I have a fresh, dark walnut
brown turd and and some finely sanded hard maple. I expect the turd to
make the maple dark walnut brown. I rub some around on the maple and
it looks pretty brown. then I wipe the maple down with a clean cloth
and the maple is hardley colored. This turd is **** I say. I expected
this turd to turn that hard maple dark walnut brown.

Replace "turd" with Minwax.

Ah, gotcha.

On 1/24/2011 6:33 PM, SonomaProducts.com wrote:

How bad can stain be? I mean either it turns things brown or it
doesn't. And even a piece of crap can do that.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

OK, using the turd analogy is perfect. I have a fresh, dark walnut
brown turd and and some finely sanded hard maple. I expect the turd to
make the maple dark walnut brown. I rub some around on the maple and
it looks pretty brown. then I wipe the maple down with a clean cloth
and the maple is hardley colored. This turd is **** I say. I expected
this turd to turn that hard maple dark walnut brown.

Replace "turd" with Minwax.

LOL!

--
Free bad advice available here.
To reply, eat the taco.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bbqboyee/

On Jan 24, 1:50 pm, "Lee Michaels" leemichaels*nadaspam* at comcast
dot net wrote:

The applicator?? You mean that little foam brush thingy?? LOL

Yeah, yeah! That's it! ;^)

Back in the day, I made custom water beds. They were big, king size affairs
made with 2 X 12's. The had solid wood platforms and sitting rails. I made
them mostly from hemlock with some pine from time to time. I could turn them
out fast and they were better built and competitive with what the stores
were selling at the time.

Since most of my customers were trying to save a buck, a simple stain was
all they wanted to pay for.

I remember those days! One of my old employees (a house framer!) went
to Austin to make those. He convinced everyone there that he was a
"craftsman" because he made "useful" things by working with his
hands. Stylish to be bohemian back then. He did pretty good at it!
He was always bugging me to bring him scraps of 2X material to use on
his beds.

So I gave him a careful lecture with lots of notes so he could do this. And
did not see him for a couple months after that. Then I dropped by his place
and was shocked at the absolute personification of ugliness. This finishing
job saw so bad, it actually scared girls away who were about to jump in bed
with him. I was shocked.

Well, back then I would have burned the waterbed if that happened to
me! Back in those days.... women were frisky.... *sigh*.... and a
missed opportunity? Are you kidding?

But in those days of organic and natural everything, that bed must
have been butt-nasty ugly for someone to notice.

I couldn't believe you could finish anything and
make it look this bad. More disturbing was the fact he did it to one of my
water beds. Not exactly good for business.

I got a good guffaw out of that. Before I started doing my own
finishing, I disavowed any knowledge of some of my projects. Some of
the finish work I have seen (dark walnut on untreated knotty pine
comes to mind) was just scary. I didn't like it, nor did the folks
that did it.

He painted it shiny black. Not my choice, but much better than the "look of
death" style finish he had on there before.

Hey... at least you got him back in the game! There for a while gloss
black or lacquer black was pretty popular.

Those were the days with that blocky furniture, no? I still have an
old bed table from that era, and it is built heavy enough to hold a
car engine. The table is about 20"X24", but the legs are turned
4X4s! The top is a full 2" thick. It has giant hardware on it,
too.

Those were the days, eh?

Robert
..

wrote

Those were the days with that blocky furniture, no? I still have an
old bed table from that era, and it is built heavy enough to hold a
car engine. The table is about 20"X24", but the legs are turned
4X4s! The top is a full 2" thick. It has giant hardware on it,
too.

---------
Heey!! I resemble that remark.

I used to make these big coffee tables. A brochure we had had a picture of a
pickup truck on top of it. Remind me of a company making home gym
equipment. He had elephants standing on top of his equipment. I didn't know
anybody who had an elephant, so I went with the classic redneck imagery.

We had lines like, "You can put your feet up on this coffee table", "Strong
enough to sit on", etc. Those were the days.