If the above is the case, you should use mineral spirits rubbed in aggressively to soften the stain. Then wipe off all the gunk using lots of paper towels. Let the wood dry overnight and see how it looks. If if looks OK, let it dry another day and then apply your clear coat.Click to see full answer. Accordingly, what do you do if your stain won’t dry?Allow the wood to dry completely, sand the piece down to bare wood, and apply a coat or two of stain, wiping off any excess. If you applied the stain correctly, and it still remained tacky, it could be due to rainy weather or high humidity.Additionally, how do you fix tacky wood stain? To get rid of the excess stain now, take a cloth dampened with mineral spirits and use that to scrub down the piece. This should remove the excess stain. Alternatively, apply another coat of stain, wait a couple of minutes for it to soften up the old, tacky, excess stain, then take a cloth and rub away the excess. Moreover, what happens if you don’t wipe off wood stain? If the excess stain is not wiped off, the stain will not dry properly or completely and any finish applied over it will not dry either. Rather than rubbing it down with lacquer thinner, use mineral spirits applied with a 3/0 steel wool.Can you leave stain on without wiping?There’s no risk of separation at the stain level because there’s no build. If you spray the dye and leave it without wiping, you won’t get good grain definition. To improve the grain definition, apply an oil stain after the dye has dried — or over the sealer coat — and wipe off the excess.