Hot take: a finisher in Charlotte told me to stop sanding past 180 and my stain blotching went away
I had a stretch last spring where every cherry face frame came out blotchy and I kept blaming the stain. A finisher I sub for in Charlotte watched me work for five minutes and asked what grit I was stopping at. I said 220, sometimes 320 on the rails, and he just shook his head. He said I was polishing the wood so tight the stain had nowhere to grab. I dropped back to 180 on the orbital and stopped hand sanding with the grain so hard, and the next three kitchens came out even. Has anyone else had a grit change fix blotching, or do you all still go finer and just use a washcoat?