After two coats of Minwax low luster Antique Oil Finish stain color is still rubbing off

Question

I applied the stain as per the directions, waited 5 minutes then rubbed it off. It dried overnight.

I applied the finish generously, waited 10 minutes, then rubbed it off, waited 24 hours then reapplied. 24 hours later I still an able to rub a little color off on a white cloth. I tried rubbing with a cloth dampened with mineral spirits, but did not seem to be able to get rid of the color.

The piece is a mix of birch veneer plywood and sugar pine. It seems that the problem is worse on the plywood. It has been a little humid and the temperature is in the 80s.

My questions are whether I could expect the situation to improve on its own as more drying/curing happened or whether I have to take active measures? And how long should I have waited after staining?

Answer 1

I have run into this same problem with the product in the past, and almost every time I have, it's been because of high humidity in the garage. Two things have helped:

1. Sanding with a 320-400 grit paper between the coats. This helps knock down the bumps.

2. Using a fan during the drying process. I use a heavy duty fan, and it seems to speed up the drying time. Once it's aired out a little, I put it in the basement and it's completely dry within a day.

*Something else you could consider is putting one coat of oil-based polyurethane or varnish over the top of it. Wood Magazine recommends trying this in their article reviewing the product.

Here is the review I found: Minwax Antique Oil Finish Review

Answer 2

Finish takes as long to dry as it takes, which can (far too often IMO) bear little resemblance to the manufacturer's guidelines!

Oil-based products in particular are notorious for taking much longer than the stated time when the humidity is highish and/or the temps are low¹. Also, with pigmented stains² some degree of colour rub-off when topcoating is normal — something I feel is very much under-reported in finishing circles — because the stain largely sits on top of the wood's surface rather than being absorbed.

Just minor friction is enough to notice this, but the situation is worsened by Antique Oil Finish being a blended oil/varnish product, basically similar to "Danish oil", and like all such things contains 'some' mineral spirits in the formula; naturally a little solvent action is possible when a previous oil product has been used but has not dried enough.

So anyway, I think you just need to wait longer, assess in a couple days or possibly end of the week. I'd be very surprised if you didn't see a noticeable improvement in rub-off after 3-5 days.

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Confirmation from the OP after roughly 4 days:

The rub-off has completely disappeared.

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¹ Although remember that high humidity at high temps = more water vapour in the air, so high humidity when it's warm can be a much worse issue than on a muggy, but cool, day.

² Most oil-based stains are largely or wholly pigmented stains.