Woodworking Finishes – Wipe on Polyurethane
- on 04.16.09
- Woodworking Finishes
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Over the past year we have been building and finishing custom kitchen cabinets for our home. Being somewhat of a wood purest, our cabinets were made of solid hardwood, no particle or veneers allowed. The final design was a blend of many ideas; the same can be said about the layout of each cabinet. I can’t tell you where each idea came from, the concept evolved over time to something we are really happy with.
One thing we were sure of when we started was that the cabinets would be stained and top coated with Polyurethane. After discovering the joys of stains by General Finishes, we felt it only made sense to also use General Finishes Polyurethane. I am not a chemist, so I can offer no scientific proof, but it seems logical to me that the formulation of Polyurethane from one manufacturer would work best with stains formulated by the same company instead of mixing top coats and stains from different manufacturers.
As the name implies, Wipe on Polyurethane can simply be applied by wiping it across the across the project with a lint free rag. We choose to use disposable foam brushes instead of the rag method, we found it less messy. One of the draw backs or maybe a blessing is that by wiping on the top coat, the thickness of the coats tends to be thinner then when the traditional polyurethanes. A draw back, because this will requires more coats and a blessing because there is less chance of the top coat getting that plastic look when too much Polyurethane is applied.
We choose to use a semi gloss finish as the first coat, and then following up with several coats of satin wipe on polyurethane. Using the same logic, both were from the same manufacturer. Is there anything we don’t like about General Polyurethane? Yes. General products are not carried by our local DIY centers, so we need to visit the local Woodworking store to get this great product and this is much farther away from our home. Of course, you really need to twist my arm to get me to visit a woodworking store!
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