Stained a painted (dry) buttstock: extr. slow drying---

After that much time you could conclude that the stain will never dry. Over time (months) the stain might oxidize to something approaching "dry". The S-W urethane paint is formulated to resist all kinds of stuff, presumably including stain. Now you need to be lucky to remove the stain without using something too harsh for the paint.

Perhaps you should have read the cans instructions. To the best of my knowledge as a wood worker Minwax is an oil stain, for use on wood. A rag damped with mineral spirts should remove it, it’s just lying on the surface and even if it eventually cures it’s not going to be very durable.

I can't seem to grasp what's going on here. What part is plastic and what part is wood? From your description it sounds as if you painted a plastic stock and then tried to apply a stain to the paint?

beag_nut said:

After that much time you could conclude that the stain will never dry. Over time (months) the stain might oxidize to something approaching "dry". The S-W urethane paint is formulated to resist all kinds of stuff, presumably including stain. Now you need to be lucky to remove the stain without using something too harsh for the paint.

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Ditto that, get that off - it's telling you it's not happy - and you're probably going to have to remove the paint as well or at least sand it and repaint it, and make sure the paint is cured, not just dry to the touch, per the interval stated in the application instructions.

Stain over paint requires a specific type of stain. Minwax makes a lot of different oil-based stains. Make sure it's appropriate for use over paint. NOT "penetrating" stain. Good luck.

Ok. Oil stain over paint on plastic won’t work. Alcohol stain may work depending on the paint. Need to get the combination to work together.

wiscoaster said:

Stain over paint requires a specific type of stain. Minwax makes a lot of different oil-based stains. Make sure it's appropriate for use over paint. NOT "penetrating" stain. Good luck.

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He mentioned “yellow can” on their web site they show two, one is a gel stain and apparently can be applied over several surfaces including fiberglass but doesn’t mention painted plastic. What that particular stains composition is I don’t know. I’ve used it on wood but don’t care for it personally, it’s more of a “ coating” than a “ stain”.

From decades of wood finishing and paintinq stain is not a finish coat. It,s a colorant that needs a clear top coat. There are also tinted (stained) top coats like polys that will dry. I think you used the wrong type of stain. The yellow can Minwax is for wood. Mineral spirits/paint thinner should lift it with out hurting a urethane thats fully dried.. Good luck.

Post a pic of the completed project, so we can see what it was you were trying to do.

I sell stain and paint for a living. A common practice is to stain a fiberglass door. Or a painted door. The goal is to make it look like wood. Even painted steel. However, paint should be an eggshell or flat finish. Gloss will not stain as well or look right. We sell old masters stain, and i prefer it over minwax. For water base stain, General Finishes is the absolute best.

Gel stain is best for this. But as you have found, oil stain doesnt dry well without having a substrate to soak into. Notice the stain is mostly the color it is in the can, not what it would be on wood. It is probably darker.

You can let it keep curing, and it will likely cure in another week or so. But as noted, youll need to top coat it with a clear. Use an oil based product, as it wont have an adverse reaction to uncured oil stain like a water base would. You can in fact probably coat it now and be fine.

Or remove it with paint thinner/mineral spirits. From there, add some acetone to the stain. This will thin it out and make it dry faster. Or go back and buy some water based stain.

You could also water down a paint in the desired color and dry brush it on. Research faux finishing, especially 'strie'.