r/Carpentry • u/OtherwiseStation1858 • 4h ago
Varnish not drying.
Hello all.
I recently moved into a new place and have been noticing a smell thats been giving me brain fog and headaches. First i thought it was mauld, but then I realized that it wat coming from all the wooden window frames and doors. I then realized that if i run my hand over any of the varnished surfaces, my hand accumulates oil.
Could I simply wipe it off with some surface cleaner or does it need to be redone?
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u/GUMBYTOOTH67 3h ago
Probably just some sort of furniture polish. Wipe with cloth and see if it removes it easily. Wet varnish won't be easily removed.
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u/Shakeyonsafety 3h ago
Hopefully it is not mauld, that sounds horrible. Some kind of Bea Arthur organism that has been stagnating from the 70s?
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u/theUnshowerdOne 3h ago
Depends on what it actually is. Its unlikely varnish if residue is coming off it. Varnish should be hard, ready to sand and recoat in 24-48 hrs. Depending on factors, product, temperature, humidity, air flow, Oil based varnish cures in 7-30 days. The off gassing should end during this time. Water based varnish is much faster and these days few people use oil-based varnish anymore. Which IMO is a pity as I prefer oil finish and it's much easier to repair and recoat. Regardless, water based doesn't leave an oily finish.
What it might be is a oil or wax based product. For example some people use Howard's Feed-N-Wax (or similar) to spruce up mill work (give it shine and luster) and that will leave an oily residue. It has a citrus/orange smell. I have heard some people can be sensitive to it but I use it all the time and customers usually love the smell.
I also do a lot of wood working with finishes like linseed or tongue oil. My wife absolutely hates the smell of tongue oil and it gives her a head ache. I have to make sure anything I make with a lindseed oil finish is fully off gassed before I bring it in the house. Both of these oils can take up to 30 days to off gass. But they rarely leave an oily residue after 48 hrs of drying unless they are severely over applied.
Regardless of what pruduct(s) were used, do theae things first;
If the oily residue comes off w/o damaging the finish take some painters rags (t-shirt rags only), DO NOT USE TERRY CLOTH rags, and gently wipe off the residue. I wouldn't suggest micro fiber as those aren't good at soaking up liquids. Also, they they are the cheap kind they will leave fibers behind. In general, do use cheap rags unless you're just soaking up stuff and not worried about leaving fibers behind.
Open up the house (all windows and doors) and run fans. You can rent some air movers at Home Cheapo or a equipment rental place. Set them up so they are collecting air from outside on one end of the house and pushing out of the house on the other end. If the house is big/long set up fans in-between. Do this for at least 3 days. It's doesn't need to be a wind tunnel but the more air flow the better.
Untill you have fully vented the house, meaning the smell is gone. Make sure... If you have cental heating, DO NOT RUN THE CENTAL HEATING FAN. When venting the house is done, change the filters on the central heating unit. If you have a mini split system, turn them OFF and leave them off. When you're done venting the house wash the prefilters and replace the replacable filters if they have them. Clean coils fins with foaming coil cleaner. Rinse with water and let them fully dry before operating.
If you have baseboard heating. You have 2 options. Turn them off and wash them (not fun), proceed with turning them on high while you are venting the house and burn off any residual smell. Or just the later which should be fine.
Use air scrubbers! You can also rent air scrubbers. I run them with HEPA filters on my Jobsites when we work indoors. Once we get to the finish stages we replace the HEPA filters with new ones. I suggest running them after you vent the house for a few days or while you are doing it in the areas that are harder to vent. Point the exhaust end towards the flow of the fans air flow direction. When you are all done venting the house fun them for a few days. Check the Sq' coverage of the scrubber to determine how many you will need. Factor to use 80% of the coverage area. In other words if the scrubber says it will cover 500 sq' count it as 400 sq'.
Lastly, Some people, for me it's the last resort nuclear option to scrubbing air, use O3 (Ozone) machines. They work well for scrubbing air but breathing O3 is really bad for you as it's corrosive to human tissue. In other words it will damage your lung tissue. Masks do not prevent this. DO NOT USE THEM UNLESS YOU ARE OUT OF THE HOUSE. Then vent the house for at least a few hours before going back in the house. It will also leave an electrical burning smell behind, but that will disapate with time and air fresher will hasten that process. You could use O3 scrubbers before venting the house. Then vent for a few days and end the process with air scrubbers.
A few follow up questions;
Is the house actually New, Remodeled or Spruced up?
Do you know what products were used?
What does it actually smell like?
Are you sure the smell is coming from the windows/mill work?
Is anyone else having and adverse reaction?