Hi WB, If you've had dry weather, 3 or 4 days is OK, then use the sander. * You want all wood fibers to "shear off" nicely. If they're still damp, they may "tear" more...compared to a cleaner cut. * Important point: Get all the dust you can from where you sanded!! Sweeping/Shop-vac/light wipe with paint thinner. * Then, stain away! Deck Stains...hmmm...now THERE'S a "hot topic" here! * I can only speak of what we have good experience with at our store here in Fargo, ND... * Our climate here can range from -30 to 100+, with ALL kinds of humidity. It's a wonder anything holds on a deck! (our rough streets take a beating too!) ....That said.... * The "clear", "natural" colors from Penofin & Sikkens are our best sellers. * PENOFIN: Cedar, Western Red Cedar, & Transparent Redwood are by far the 3 top colors here. TWO-COAT process normally on untreated wood. 2nd coat goes pretty quickly. * SIKKENS: JEEZ we go through a lot of this stuff! SRD is appropriate for 95% of decks. ONE COAT on untreated wood. >>>> Most popular SRD colors... 077 Cedar, 078 Natural, 005 Natural Light, Mahogany, & 089 Redwood. * I've got an 11 yr.-old Redwood deck. I'm real happy with the SRD 089 Redwood I've got on it. I've had 2 yrs. off, but have to do it again this fall. * We don't get any shade on ours; but, up here, that's about all we can realistically expect. Let us know how it goes for ya! Faron

I have a friend that I know has had good luck with mayonnaise. She is working but I looked this up --- Here's a trick to remove those nasty rings. First, make sure that the surface is clean and dry. Next, place a small amount of mayonnaise directly over the ring. Cover the area with a piece of plastic wrap and allow it to sit for about 30 minutes. Remove the plastic wrap and lightly rub the mayonnaise into the finish using a nylon scouring pad and working in the direction of the grain. Wipe up all the mayonnaise with a soft cloth and restore the luster to the area with some lemon oil or paste wax. And that's the On The House tip for today.

Hi Kathrine. It seems like you are well on your way to a solution already, but I would like to clear some of the fog. First, I would like to address oil and wax finishes. Although they do produce a decent finish, they take forever to cure, they will need to be renewed eventually, and they offer little to no protection (when compared to a film finish). In a kitchen, durability is usually the big concern and pure tung oil simply doesnt have a place there. Now if you have a nice antique hall table that you dont mind babying, tung oil and wax could be a good choice. But with the amazing array of beautiful finish options available today, its hard to believe tung oil (and boiled linseed oil), still find their way into our homes. That being said, I am glad you went with the Waterlox. Despite the incorrect information Minwax gave you, Waterlox is not all that different from a wiping polyurethane. Waterlox actually contains little to no tung oil at all. It does, however, contain a resin that is derived from oil and is a close relative to polyurethane. Many woodworkers like this particular resin better because it is less "plastic-looking" than standard polyurethane. So what you have actually done is exactly what I would have recommended: you top-coated your tung oiled surface with a wiping varnish. This varnish will give your cabinets the protection they need from oil, grease, heat, water, and cleaning agents. A level of protection that tung oil cannot provide. And one note to the folks who were discussing "food-safe" finishes. Nearly all film finishes are food safe once cured. If you are a bit skeptical, there are FDA-approved varnishes available (usually labelled salad bowl finish), that will offer much more protection and durability than oil and wax. I apologize for the blitz of information. If anyone has any questions, please feel free to ask away. Marc

Tina - as I remember them, the floors were not shiny but had a lovely mellow glow. As I'm reading more about wax floors (and talking to my brother who is 11 yrs older and remembers more about them) I'm rethinking this. Not all the boards can or should be long, they should be mixed lengths and ideally 2 adjacent boards ends don't line up and the butt joints are all staggered. catspa your description brought back some memories of wiping doggy paws in the winter to get the snow off them so the floors aren't ruined! awm you have to tell me about your Waterlox experience - that's one of the finishes I'm considering but no idea if we'll find anyone here who's experienced with it. I'm not after shine, not interested in matte, want something in between and if we end up with a poly again it'll be a satin finish. I won't do a water based again, had that on the natural maple in our old house and didn't care for it. The oak floors had oil based poly and it held up much better but at least part of that is the nature of oak - it's a VERY forgiving wood for flooring. Still trying to wrap my brain around this reality - I was determined that we'd buy existing and remodel but small-ish house, big land, reasonable distance to town, not in a subdivision and so on proved to be a fantasy. I'll need input for sure and I'm afraid of getting input for sure IYKWIM!! Deb