"I can't believe it's not lacquer" is staying sticky

[ThatCluelessGerman]

Their own recommendations are to chill it for best results!

Really? Mine says to heat it in the microwave. Not the full bottle but to put it into a small cup and heat to 95°F, that's around 35°C or something.
My "trick" is to apply it cold with a sponge and then go over it with a heatgun set to 170°C, which gives a surface temp of around 35-40°. Move the heatgun, don't burn the wood )

PS: This also helps with popping the tiny bubbles that can form from applying with a sponge.

[Rabbit]

Really? Mine says to heat it in the microwave. Not the full bottle but to put it into a small cup and heat to 95°F, that's around 35°C or something.
My "trick" is to apply it cold with a sponge and then go over it with a heatgun set to 170°C, which gives a surface temp of around 35-40°. Move the heatgun, don't burn the wood )

PS: This also helps with popping the tiny bubbles that can form from applying with a sponge.

That's similar to an old epoxy trick. You heat up the timber a little, apply your epoxy, and as the timber cools it sucks the epoxy into the pores of the timber , sealing it better. as for the bubbles, that may also be due to low quality sponge. The finish I use can be applied by foam brush, and they specify using a high density foam brush because the cheaper ones will give you bubbles, and they do. I prefer to spray.

Interesting enough Rickenbacker now finish their guitars by spraying a UV cure polyester.