Humidity changes the reaction. There are different formulas for different brands of CA and some or most react to moisture, usually being a tad slower to cure in than with hot & arid conditions. Fogging in general with me occurred with higher humidity levels and lower ambient temps - below somewhere around 75°.
Fogging does seem to take place more with activator than without it - if you read previous threads over the years. Also, the activators cause a quick increase in temps on the blank and will draw moisture to it, and if the heat draws moisture out of the blank (slightly green blank), it will cause cloudiness too. Cloudiness or fogginess is a result of moisture. Most of the time it will go away after a few days in a dry environment, but do not put it in the sunlight to sit for hours on end, even if the sunlight is coming through a window.
Location and environment make a difference with finishes. Phoenix presents a different environment for finishing than Portland OR, or Dayton, Ohio, etc. Plus personal experience and working traits/techniques change the specific method that needs to be used (everyone is different and there is no one way that works best for everyone. I personally ran into this needing to change techniques in NW MS and overseas in a coastal city. Conquering this CA mess came (for me) with just spending a day with a bunch of blanks made out of a pieces of pine 2x4 about foot long and cut into blank size pieces. After making about 15 or so blanks, I spent the morning trying to get a good finish. The experience was excellent. My technique improved with each one; learning the reaction of the CA along with ambient moisture (humidity) and temp was a great experience. That was in NW Mississippi near Memphis. I was home for a few months. Then back to living overseas in a coastal city (Nagoya-Toyota City) and the environment changed somewhat (higher humidity year round) although the temps were almost identical to NW MS. Experience and technique help overcome the cloudiness/fogginess as conditions change.
