Glue screwing up the finish on my project -- HELP!!

[Jason White]

Guys,

I just finished building a "dry sink" made of eastern white pine. I made raised panel doors for it and thought I removed all of the glue squeeze-out before staining them, but apparently I was wrong!


The oil-based stain seemingly didn't penetrate enough in a couple of places where the rails and stiles are glued together. They are showing up as light-colored spots.

How do I deal with this? Is there a way to remove or hide the glue spots without wrecking the rest of the existing finish? I have not applied a clear-coat yet, but am planning to use Minwax wipe-on polyurethane.

Thanks in advance!

Jason

[Chris Padilla]

I'm not sure how it'll impact the finish but oil is usually easy to fix. Try some hot water and a toothbrush or pick up some DeGloo (DeGlue?). It is a thick gel designed to soften yellow glue.

[Greg Wease]

Try putting a little more stain on the spots and sanding it in using ~400 wet-or-dry abrasive. Sometimes it helps to adhere the abrasive to a stick of wood with spray adhesive so you can localize your sanding. I usually wipe down my projects with naptha before finishing to help find any glue spots.

[Jason White]

I had that very idea last night and have to say it worked pretty well!

I dipped some 220-grit wet/dry sandpaper into the stain and gently rubbed the areas with the glue spots being careful to go with the grain and not sand across the joints. I then used a clean rag to wipe away the grit from the sandpaper and wiped some more stain onto the wood until I couldn't see the glue spots anymore.

Not sure if this trick works with all types of wood and finishes, but it worked great in my situation.

Jason

Try putting a little more stain on the spots and sanding it in using ~400 wet-or-dry abrasive. Sometimes it helps to adhere the abrasive to a stick of wood with spray adhesive so you can localize your sanding. I usually wipe down my projects with naptha before finishing to help find any glue spots.