Stain coming off with poly

[Busdriver]

Yesterday I built and stained a kitchen table with Minwax stain. I wiped it completely dry.
Today I mixed poly and mineral spirits together in a Mason jar to make my own wipe on poly. 3 parts poly to 1 part mineral spirits.
While putting on the poly, the stain was coming off in my brush and rag. I wouldn't think that the little bit of mineral spirits mixed in with the poly would cause this. Is this going to happen when I apply additional coats? I also don't want the owner of this table to have a stained rag after she cleans her table.
What say you?

Eddie

[jteneyck]

Yesterday I built and stained a kitchen table with Minwax stain. I wiped it completely dry.
Today I mixed poly and mineral spirits together in a Mason jar to make my own wipe on poly. 3 parts poly to 1 part mineral spirits.
While putting on the poly,  the stain was coming off in my brush and rag. I wouldn't think that the little bit of mineral spirits mixed in with the poly would cause this. Is this going to happen when I apply additional coats? I also don't want the owner of this table to have a stained rag after she cleans her table.
What say you?

Eddie

Let the stain dry longer.  It often takes 24 or 48 hours to be dry enough so the subsequent first coat of finish doesn't lift it back off.  The directions may say "can be topcoated in as little as X hours", but the fine print usually says "may require longer time when the RH is high or temperature is low".  I don't think the added MS had anything to do with it; it just needs more time.  And there should be no issues once the table is completed as far as pulling finish/stain back off from cleaning it.

You built a kitchen table in a day?  I'm impressed.   

John

[Bill Wilson]

I doubt the stain was fully cured before you applied the wipe-on poly.  The solvent in the wipe on poly is certainly capable of lifting the stain.  I've had it happen more than once.  The good news is, that once the top coat is on and cured, it will seal the stain and there should be no further lifting in the finished product.

The stain really needs to dry for at least a couple days, I think, before applying the wipe-on poly.  If you were spraying or perhaps even brushing full strength poly, you may not have noticed much stain lifting, but the combination of the added solvent and the wiping action is most likely the cause of your problem. 

In the future, you may want to consider a barrier coat of shellac between the stain and the wipe-on poly, especially if you aren't able to allow adequate time for the stain to dry.

[Busdriver]

Lol no I didn't build it in a day. Just finished it yesterday and started finishing

[Busdriver]

Thanks for the info. I thought the stain might have been wet, but wasn't sure.

[tomsteve]

minwax stains are notorious for slow drying.

[Cooler]

Open pore woods like oak, ash, and mahogany hold extra stain in the pores and it can take longer to dry.  

I usually wipe vigorously with the grain to lift out most of that stain.