Here are the facts:
- Pine table
- I applied a wood conditioner at the beginning.
- I stained in the garage with the garage door open.
- Super high humidity now.
- The water-based polyurethane dries super fast.
- I used a water-based polyurethane on it and when it dries, it looks nice and glassy but when i lightly sand, it leaves white spots (I think this is called "blushing").
- I can apply the water-based polyurethane again and the spots disappear, however because of defects like a bubble, I have to sand it and I get the blushing all over again.
- With one application, I tried applying very slowly to minimize bubbles and it worked, however I would get brush marks because of the quick drying.
- I sanded w/ 220 grit with my orbital sander on the slowest speed to try to even it out as much as possible. I'm still going to sand a little tonight since some poly drops showed up. I don't want to pierce the polyurethane.
- I was at a paint store and I don't think the guys knew what they were talking about, however some old guy that was a customer there told me that if there was a gentle breeze that could contribute to my problems.
I want this to look amazing at the end: nice, smooth, and glassy. What should I do about the white fogginess?
finishing
tag at Woodworking - there's loads of info there about a wide variety of finishing issues.