[Temblor]

Novice here, please help.
The Dalys Benite conditioner instructions say to leave conditioner on 12-24 hours then sand with 180-220 grit sandpaper before staining.. A Daly's rep in my area said same thing.
So I waited 16 hours, used 220 grit sandpaper and now the once nice looking wood has some greyish/white streaks look to it. Is this from the Daly's product?
Is that normal? I am a novice at this.. I am worried now that the door will show these streaks if I stain ?

This is a new Fir laminated door & sidelights.. the actual thickness of the fir is maybe 1/16th or 1/8th" ? So I have tried to keep the sanding light.
To start project, I used lightly sanded with a 180 grit with a small Makita palm sander then followed with a 220. When I say lightly I mean 1 or two light passes..
Then I used the Benite, let dry & it looked great!
Then following instructions I used used a rectangle block hand sander and LIGHTLY sanded..
and now you see the results in the picture! Is this how it is supposed to look? Am I freaking out over nothing? Should I put a 2nd coat of benite and sand again? should I just sand it more?
Should I apply stain like it is?
Any Help from someone who has used this product? on similar fir door? is appreciated!

 

[Temblor]

Daly's is used a lot here as a prestain conditioner it definitely gives fir a more toned down look after staining. As for the streaks no Benite is so thin shouldn't do that if it properly penetrated and dried. I would suggest calling Daly's/Farwest Coatings and talk to Brian Paulson: brianp@dalyswoodfinishes.com

Hes an expert on that product.


I tell people to sand to medium 120-150 grit, remove dust, Benite, dry overnight, scuff sand 150-180 grit, remove dust, then stain. I have had better luck using old masters gel stains with benite over fir. Gives your more control over the opacity.


Did you read the back of the can? These instructions are almost verbatim on there. My guess is that starting at 220 is was too fine giving no penetration and a thin film that can scratch.

Thank you for the help so far, I will contact Brian at Farwest after holiday.
I did contact a Daly's trained, color match rep, at my local store who has helped me, she said to let it dry longer being in a semi heated garage (62- 68 degrees?) then I tried a 150 grit sandpaper..
So I waited another 24 + hours switched over to the door (which I had not sanded after Benite application) worked on one lower panel, but unfortunately the same thing happened it appears to my novice eye, maybe it is sanding the high points of the wood and I get a scratched scuffed look & whitish streaks, I tried rubbing firmly with tack cloth after, it did remove some white, but replaced the hazy white streak with a "smooth" shiny streak.

So still trying to figure out why.
I am worrying the stain is going to magnify the streaks.

I wonder if I was too light on sanding the door initially?
Maybe I have been too cautious of sanding through the veneer? so maybe I have not sanded the door & sidelights enough? to make them a completely smooth flat surface? so the streaks I am seeing are high points of the wood?

The Door is a Simpson but the sidelights were custom made at Franks Lumber a Door store here in WA.. but BOTH products are having the same results.
If my novice assumption is accurate.. what to do now? re-sand entire door? to attempt to make it smooth? then re apply Benite?
If so, I do know one person (not the manufacture) who says you should stain right after applying Benite. So you would skip the sanding process.

Before I started the project I watched videos on sanding Simpson doors, it seems people would just sand the new Simpson doors lightly with a palm sander..
Maybe it is just my inexperience with sanding and finishing to blame?

So let me ask any who has experience with the Dalys Benite product.. lets say That I sanded the door more rigorously, until it was totally smooth?
no high points at all?
Then I applied the Dalys Benite and waited 12-24 hours to dry.. and sanded as per instructions; Do you think it would have a whitish scuffed appearance "evenly" across wood? or no whitish hazy at all?

Let me ask this.. if YOU were sanding a new Fir door like this, would you use what I used? a Makita 1/4 sheet Finishing Sander? (like mine) Or would you use an orbital sander? how many passes with electric palm sander would you make over product? would you apply a lot of pressure? would there have been a lot of saw dust after?
Considering this is a veneer?

So the other option here is to just stain it now and hope that the stain will not show the streaks at all? they will just disappear?

Thank you for any & all advice

 

[Temblor]

Thanks for reply,
I used a green scotch bright pad in hopes of smoothing out streaks.. but did not work as well as hoped. After I applied stain on one small section but was not happy with the results you could see the sand marks/streaks as I feared. Also I may have rubbed too hard with the tack cloth and transferred some residue to the wood on one section.

So, I am going to have a friend who finishes floors to do a light re-sand with small dewalt orbital sander 100 to 120.. in hopes get rid of streaks and a fresh start.
Then another cloth applied thin coat of Benite..
One Daly's rep local advised to NOT sand the new light coat of Benite?

Frankly I am hesitant to re-sand the benite because the door sidelights with a laminate (glue under) is just not flat/smooth.. and not enough laminate to risk a heavy sand.

 

[Temblor]

Follow up... As I stated I am a novice on Conditioning staining sealing wood..
So I wanted to follow up.. basically it seems normal to have a scratchy hazy look after sanding the Benite.. You do not need to sand much just alight scuff up sand..
The new coat will cover it up.
Some people I heard from do not sand, and some mix it with stain or stain right after application.
Good product.