Tried a new cold bluing method on a 1911 slide and it came out patchy

So I picked up this old Colt slide that had some surface rust and light pitting. Figured I'd try that new gel bluing stuff everyone's been talking about, the kind you leave on for a few minutes. Followed the instructions to the letter, degreased it three times with acetone, even warmed the metal with a heat gun. Applied it evenly, waited the full five minutes, and when I rinsed it off... it looked like a leopard. Some spots took a deep, rich blue, others were this weird grayish color, and a few spots around the pitting just didn't take at all. I'm thinking maybe the pitting held some moisture or cleaner I missed, even after all that prep. Now I'm stuck with a slide that looks worse than when I started and I have to strip it all back. Anyone have a surefire method for prepping pitted steel before a cold blue?

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