Cetol Marine Gloss Not Drying

[jhalb]

I removed my teak swim platform and have it in my basement so I could refinish this year. I took the top down to bare wood to get rid of the dark lines at the seams. I am refinishing the bottom first to get practice. I have 5 coats of Cetol lite on it and every thigpng was going good. I wanted the high gloss look so I opened up my 6 year old Cetol Marine Gloss and did a 12 inch test at the end of the bottom. The look is great but after 5 days it's still sticky to the touch. Is there a way to speed up the drying time? I'm heading to West Marine tomorrow to get a fresh can of gloss. I know this will be slick when wet but the look of the gloss finish is head turning at the marina.

[Away On Busine$$]

Did some refinish in my basement, took longer than I thought, but from the same can things were normal in higher temp and less humidity outside during summer.

[bjanakos]

... I have 5 coats of Cetol lite on it and every thigpng was going good. I wanted the high gloss look so I opened up my 6 year old Cetol Marine Gloss and did a 12 inch test at the end of the bottom. The look is great but after 5 days it's still sticky to the touch....

How fast did you lay down those coats? I think you are working way to fast and put up too much build too quickly. Your dry time is relative to heat, humidity, and how much solids you are laying down.

I'm working on some projects in my basement too and I am waiting 24 hours minimum in between coats. I am waiting for the material to get just beyond gelled, but not cured. I have a few pieces that are finally initially cured after 7 days. They received 1 coat every 24 hours for 3 days. They will probably take another 2 weeks to final cure. My basement is running about 66-68 degrees with about 65% relative humidity.

If you put down 5 thick coats in 5 days, I imagine it will be at least another week for an initial cure and maybe another 3-4 weeks for final cure. You can try moving it to another area in the house that is warmer and has more air flow. But I would not put any direct source of heat on it.

[jhalb]

I put the Cetol Lite coats on about 1 every 5 days with lite sanding in between. The gloss was about 1/8 of a leftover can I had out in the unheated garage. Half of the can was jelly. I has a small amount that was normal looking so I wanted to do a test area. I didn't know if I could heat it to harden or I need to remove and try a new can.

[Away On Busine$$]

That old and half solid, I would think you could not stir it enough to get it back to useful acceptance. I would remove the high-gloss section and start with a new can. Your other coatings and timings seam fine.

[captainmaniac]

You normally don't need to sand between costs of Cetol (regular, or light). A coat a day shouldn't be an issue.

I have had an issue with Cetol Gloss in the past, but sounds like your issue and mine are probably not directly related, but may be indirectly.

Putting gloss on too thick can be a problem. Cetol Gloss contains "stuff" (I will let a chemist explain it) both for the final gloss finish, as well as some solvent based "stuff". When you apply it, it goes on very clean and smooth, then the solvent is supposed to evaporate and leave behind the kick-arse gloss finish we are looking for.

But if you put the gloss on too thick, or have environmental conditions (cold, heat, humidity) that are out of spec, it may skin over before the solvents can evaporate. When that happens, you end up with a soft spot or a bubble... as I did a couple of years back after trying to recoat in 45-50F conditions. Basically the solvent not being allowed to escape, keeps the Gloss from fully curing (like an epoxy mix without enough hardener).

For your particular situation, I am guessing that the age of the product and settling out are probably your main problems. I would never use 6 year old product (be it Cetol, paints, or caulk) as the odds that it has settled out, or just gone bad, are huge. I tend to pitch stuff that is more than 2-4 years old, depending on what it is (the pain of the mess to clean up just isn't worth the $20-$40 it will cost to replace it). With Cetol Gloss being a combination of good 'finish' stuff and solvents, it's entirely possible that the jelly in your can was destroyed and past due finish material, and the liquid portion you applied to the platform was mostly just solvents...

I don't think any amount of stirring is going to help you. Get whatever crap you can off of the platform and see if it dries out or solidifies. If not, take rags soaked in varsol or other appropriate thinners to get any soft, wet, or sticky crud off of the platform. Once you have a foundation that is clean, dry, and solid, try applying new stuff from a new can.

[bjanakos]

I put the Cetol Lite coats on about 1 every 5 days with lite sanding in between. The gloss was about 1/8 of a leftover can I had out in the unheated garage. Half of the can was jelly. I has a small amount that was normal looking so I wanted to do a test area. I didn't know if I could heat it to harden or I need to remove and try a new can.

If it separated in the can, you could try letting it warm up naturally to room temperature (65-75) and give it a stir to see if it evens out. Another trick would be to heat up a pot of water on the stove to steaming temperature; i.e. 180 degrees or so, turn off the heat, and then set your can in the pot of water and stir it.

But if it's been sitting that long with 7/8 of air space, it could just mean that a good percentage of the solvents have evaporated out and there is not much you can do. You can try thinning it with mineral spirits or paint thinner, but after all that effort, it may just make sense to buy a new can.

[Paul]

I love Cetol products. All of the wood work in my cabin is done in the original Cetol with the addition of the clear on all cabinets and moldings. The teak and holly floors in the cabin and the swim platform however do not have the clear coat on them for safety reasons. If you're standing or walking on a swim platform coated with Cetol clear and you're feet are wet, there's a good chance of a slip and fall occurring.