Expert: Eileen Cronk - 12/20/2008

Question
I have just refinished an old bedroom suit.  After sanding off the old finish and sealing the wood, I used Minwax PolyShade with the stain and polyurethane in one.  One of the pieces has some grittiness on the top of the surface.  Another one has a very small area where the stain ran down the side.  Otherwise, the pieces turned out beautiful....especially for this being my first time to do this.  Please advise on the best way to properly fix these two problems.  Thanks!

Answer
Hi Sharon
Nice to hear from you.
First off Sharon my congratulations on your first job.
I must say you are brave to tackle a bedroon suite as a first project.
And there is no way I am going to start in with "you should have done this or this LOL". I'll leave that for you next project.
You ask a simple question "how do I fix this?"
Fairly easily and just a bit more work but nothing you can't do.
Get a sheet of 220 sandpaper and gently sand off these two areas.
Make sure the previous finish you applied is very well dried.
Dust well (a tack cloth is great for this).
Then apply another light coat of finish in these areas.
Feather the edges with your brush where the previous finish meets this coat.
Good Luck and great question.
Kind Regards
Eileen