Help: I varnished my Cordoba by mistake.

I used this:

http://www.amazon.com/Oleum-66051-W...ref=sr_1_2?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1332192487&sr=1-2

On this ukulele:
http://www.guitarcenter.com/Cordoba-25CK-Concert-Ukulele-104926191-i1166345.gc

I bought the Watcos (Rustoleum) at Lowes, and it says "has lemon oils" in it. It doesn;t say what else. It specifically does not say it has varnish or lacquers, like some of the other Watcos and non-Watcos products, which do say that on the can.

So, while whistling "Blue Roses Falling" to myself, I applied this all over my satin finish Cordoba acacia koa uke. I did not, thankfully, do it to the fretboard and neck and head. Just the body, all over (well, like 90%).

Well, next morning I get up, and the thing looks like it's been varnished! In spots, still dull satin of yore, but wherever I touched that rag, glossy and hardened.

So, besides washing my mouth out with soap, should I: (a) take a rag and do the rest of the body with this stuff so that it's even, (b) use something like steel wool and try to get it off of there, or (c) (insert luthier's "c" here).

Thanks in advance y'all.

PS If you want to take me out and put a "kick me" sign on my butt, you'll have to get in line behind my wife, my mailman, the whiny neighbors, and a bunch of others before you. Not all for ukulele stuff, obviously.

Even though this is called rejuvenating "oil", I believe this to be a wiping varnish finish. Wiping varnish is diluted enough (35-50%) that it is easy to spread with a rag, and goes on quite thinly (that's good news for you). If it were me, I'd reapply so the coating is uniform and let day a few days. Then go over the varnished surface with 0000 steel wool, lubricated with paste wax. This will even out the sheen to a satin finish.

Good luck
Jim B

I've only seen a few Cordoba ukes, but they all had a very thick finish on to start with. Try to complete this job (you can't make it much worse) and see how it turns out. My fear is that you end up with 1/4 inch of finish on it and a near silent uke.

If so, the fix is to sand all the finish off (which you'd have to do if you stopped now), back to bare wood, and refinish with something else.If you can cope with a gentle shine rather than high gloss, a few coats of Tru-Oil iseasy to do and looks good. For a high gloss, I think you need a luthier with a spray booth or to learn to French Polish.

Great thoughts, both. The cordoba is actually a matte, satin finish. Until I did this to it. lol Thanks for sharing your knowledge.

Do you have any pics? I'd probably just do the rest of the body and remember not to do it again.