How do I eliminate varnish odor.
A couple of years ago I built a blanket chest for the foot of our bed. It turned out great except for the varnish smell in the inside of the chest that will not go away. My wife won't put anything in the chest because of the smell. I used a poly varnish. I have left the lid open for several weeks and I thought that the smell was gone, but it came back after closing the chest.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
How do I eliminate varnish odor.
Ralph,
Don't know if this will help, especially after a couple of years but there are some ideas on removing varnish.
From Understanding Wood Finsihing, Bob Flexner:
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VARNISH:
CONS: Very slow curing, causing severe dust problems. Tends to yellow over time.
COMMON PROBLEM APPLYING VARNISH:
Problem: The varnish doesn't cure. It remains tacky.
1) The air is too cold
Warm the room or wait for a warmer day
2) There is uncured oil in the wood. Many people make the mistake of thinking a coat of linseed oil under the varnish helps things.
Allow more time for the varnish to cure. If it still doesn't, trip it and the oil off the wood, let the wood dry thoroughtly, and start over.
3) The wood is an oily wood such as teak, rosewood, cocobolo, or ebony. The oils in thses woods retard the curing of varnish
Allow more time for the varnish to cure. If it doesn't, strip the varnish off the wood and wash the wood with a non-oily solvent such as naphtha, acetone, or lacquer thinner before reapplying the varnish.
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Regards, Joe