My finishing process is similar to yours in that I prepare my piece prior to cutting. Sand, wipe with damp cloth, sand again, until I am satisfied. When finished with removing fuzzies I will then stain. Since most of my projects are small my staining process is; pour a little stain into a zip lock bag, place my project in the bag, slosh the bag around for about a minute or two to ensure stain is in all the fret work, place the stained piece on a small oven rack, then using a small Home Depot air compressor will blow on piece to remove drips, wipe down. If satisfied will perform process again. Kind of a modified dipping process. When satisfied will spray Deft poly on it. I use the cheapest baggies I can find. If I make larger project will have to get some trays. That is my process.
Jerry