# Issues with Danish Oil drying



## Indigenous (Aug 13, 2012)

So I've been applying Danish Oil to my Schecter that I sanded down. The first few coats went just fine, but on this coat, it is just not drying right. I've let it dry for 24 hours, but it has this sticky tacky coat on it that just feels horrible. I tried wiping it off with a rag, which did nothing. I used 600 grit sandpaper to try and get some off, which did a little, but it's still sticky. What should I do? Should I just sand through the whole coat and reapply it lighter?


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## Purelojik (Aug 13, 2012)

Indigenous said:


> So I've been applying Danish Oil to my Schecter that I sanded down. The first few coats went just fine, but on this coat, it is just not drying right. I've let it dry for 24 hours, but it has this sticky tacky coat on it that just feels horrible. I tried wiping it off with a rag, which did nothing. I used 600 grit sandpaper to try and get some off, which did a little, but it's still sticky. What should I do? Should I just sand through the whole coat and reapply it lighter?



thing is with danish oil it'll keep seeping out of the pores for a while. if its still tacky then just leave it. sometimes you can wipe some mineral spirits to kinda thin out that top layer then just leave it for a bit. 

you also dont wanna sand too fine otherwise the oil wont be absorbed too much. just leave it for another day or two and check


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## Birdman (Aug 13, 2012)

at youtube are great demos ......


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## Indigenous (Aug 13, 2012)

After reading through a few things, I realized I forgot to wipe off excess oil after half an hour when I did all my coats. Oops. I got as much of the excess oil off as I could with sandpaper and a plastic scraper, but it's still sticky. I'm going to let it dry one more day and then I might have to wipe some more off with mineral spirits. I'm not sure yet. I just need it to be done before the weekend.


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## Indigenous (Aug 13, 2012)

Birdman said:


> at youtube are great demos ......




Funny thing is, I used that video as a tutorial to put on the Danish Oil.


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## veshly (Aug 13, 2012)

I had this problem, I just let it dry for a bit longer. 

I've had the guitar done for about a week and it's a lot better but still has a tiny bit of stick to it, not really a big deal. It's gotten a bit of 'natural buffing' from where I rest my arm and it's not really tacky there anymore.


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## Indigenous (Aug 13, 2012)

At this point I think I might just have to remove some of the oil with mineral spirits. It's still really tacky, and I put 4 pretty thick coats on the thing. I'll wipe it down til it's better and then go from there I think. Hopefully it won't take too long.


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## darren (Aug 13, 2012)

It sounds like you may have just put too much on. The key is to get a good even coat, then wipe off all the excess and let it dry before applying the next coat. Oils need time to "polymerize". Products that are 100% pure oil with no drying agents will need quite a lot of time. But anything with varnish or other solvents will dry faster. But if you add more product before the previous coat has fully dried, it'll turn into a sticky mess. And obviously, putting on too much at once can severely slow the drying times.


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## skeels (Aug 14, 2012)

Indigenous said:


> At this point I think I might just have to remove some of the oil with mineral spirits. It's still really tacky, and I put 4 pretty thick coats on the thing. I'll wipe it down til it's better and then go from there I think. Hopefully it won't take too long.



Sometimes it's better to start fresh than to keep messing things up worse.
Words of wisdom from Darren - many thin, even coats + plenty of drying time.

You only need one thing to get your dream guitar - patience.

You'll get it!


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## Indigenous (Aug 14, 2012)

Yeah, I definitely didn't wait long enough between coats. I'll just remove a few and go from there I guess. Thanks guys.


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