I'm building a closet and I've just made doors for it. It's red oak wood with a rail & stile construction and raised panels. I was a little careless and some of the wood glue (Titebond) escaped through the joints and are visible outside (see the picture on the right).
Normally, I would just sand it off if it was on a flat surface, but given that they're in the corners (and a little on the sides), it'll be harder to sand without gouging. I plan on staining it and am wondering what would be the best approach to removing the glue so that the wood will absorb the stain without any patchiness.
I was thinking that some cotton wool lightly dipped in mineral spirits should be sufficient to remove the glue, without any effect on the wood. Is this a good approach? Are there alternatives to this?
Best Answer
The best time to remove glue that squeezes out is about 30-60 minutes after the glue-up. At this point it's still soft enough that you can easily scrape it off but it's stiff enough that it won't smear and make more of a mess. When it's past that point and you realize you still missed some, the best solution is still to scrape with a card scraper and/or sand it.
Scraping works really well if it has only been a day or less and the glue is not yet rock hard. You should be able to sand by hand if you are worried about overdoing the sanding and gouging the wood. Use a flat sanding block for the flat areas and a foam-backed block for the curved parts. For the corners you can fold your sandpaper and back it with your fingers.
I don't think mineral spirits are likely to remove dried Titebond, and if you get a solvent that can dissolve it, how will you keep from just smearing it around into larger patches? This will be especially a problem on red oak, because of the large pores of the wood that will trap the dissolved glue. If you go this route anyway, I suggest trying it on some scrap before the real project to make sure it works as desired.