: I've run into the not-drying-scaly-varnish problem. The boat's marine-grade
: plywood, epoxy covered, sanded to 220. I put on one last coat of clear
: epoxy, sanded it the next day, and scrubbed it with hot water, dishwashing
: detergent and a stiff plastic bristle brush. I rinsed with a lot of cold
: water and dried it with two towels. Then I brought it inside, waited about
: a half hour so any moisture still on the surface might evaporate and put
: on a thin coat of Interlux Schooner varnish. Now, the workspace was
: basically unventilated and lined with plastic drop cloths to form a paint
: booth. To further control dust I sprayed water all over the cloths and the
: floor (I was having a hell of a time keeping the dust out of my epoxy and
: this technique seemed to help for the very last coat.

: That was Saturday night, now it's Monday night and the varnish is still a
: little tacky and scaly. What happened? And what do I do now?

: Is the only option to remove the varnish? Is there an easy way to do that?
: (I've opened a window and put more heat in the room and now the varnish is
: starting to become dry to the touch in spots.)

The epoxy may be hard but it takes about two weeks for each new coat to fully cure. In that time
the surface of the epoxy will react with the finish you apply. If you waited a couple weeks you may
be able to apply any brand of finish and have it cure properly. The sooner you finish the epoxy
the more important it is to use a finish that is suggested as compatible by the epoxy maker.

Typically the first coat of a compatible finish over new epoxy will take longer than normal to cure.

Your time frame seems too long. Since the finish has not yet cured it should be easy to remove
with denatured alcohol and medium steel wool. I would not use detergent to wash an epoxy surface.
Just use water and a scrub pad.

Then either wait a couple weeks and use the finish you have or contact the maker of the epoxy
you used on your boat and ask witch finish they suggest using with their epoxy.

All the best,

Rob Macks
Laughing Loon CC&K
www.LaughingLoon.com