Praise for Wipe on Poly

[Prashun Patel]

I think it IS more forgiving, Alan. It does not seem to result in streaks and wipe marks as easily as Waterlox does when worked more than once. I think you are right on about 'going over areas too late'. You have to lay it on quick, then spread it out immediately. On large surfaces, you can use a bigger swatch of blue towel to get it on fast. I just re-did my neighbor's kitchen table (108" x 40") and I used a full towel. The first part of the application is just laying it down, aiming for about 95% coverage. You want to err on the side of speed rather than complete coverage. Then immediately, you come back with the opened towel (it should be still adequately wet from the lay-down, but not reloaded with more varnish) and wipe in large circles to spread and hit all the miss spots. It's very easy to miss the corners on the first pass.

Swift and thin.

[Andrew Helman]

Just to add a product experience that is relevant. I found a mix-and-match approach worked well with a dining table--wipe a little, brush, finish with a wipe. That said, P&L 38, even many months after finishing and rubbing out (last coat in August 2015), is soft. I can still dent it with a fingernail. I used it because it is light in color but would use J10's preferred Arm-R-Seal next time. I'll get it on the refinish when the kids are older.

[Ole Anderson]

For years I used Minwax premixed satin wipe on poly. Definitely beats issues you get with brushing on the thick poly. When I finished my Hickory kitchen cabs I used 5 coats of Pratt & Lambert #38 alkyd varnish diluted 50/50 with MS. It went on wet, but not flooded. Applied with a blue shop towel. In between coats I left the towel and a small amount of varnish in a covered margarine tub. I was able to do 5 coats in 2 days. Sanded lightly only after the 4th coat with 400 grit 3M automotive PSA roll stock. No stain. The finished product looks and feels no different from the raw wood, it is unnerving. Absolutely no yellowing so far after 3 years. I have moved beyond poly for my larger projects. Only problem is the #38 only seems available online. I noticed no issues with softness as Andrew did, but then I didn't try to rub it out or use it on a tabletop.

[Jerry Olexa]

P and L #38 is a great product!!!!!

[Chuck Wick]

Hi, Prashun

I love the color you ended up with in this recipe and I am planning to try it out myself. This is will be my first furniture/finishing project and I'm using red oak, I've seen a number of mentions of using grain filler on red oak. Would you recommend using grain filler with this recipe and if so where in the application would you suggest applying it?

Thanks

[Prashun Patel]

Hi Chuck. The color is from the walnut, not the finish. In fact, Minwax poly is on the lighter side of the oil based varnish spectrum. You can count on it giving a little yellow to the top, but not to make it dark.

Here's how I'd do it if you want to grain fill (I stopped grain filling because it's too much work for me.).

Sand
Stain
Seal (=one coat of top coat).
Grain fill.
Top coat.

Some grain filler is stainable. I find it easier to tint the grain filler and apply it after staining/dyeing the wood. YMMV.

Are you staining?

[Chuck Wick]

Hi Chuck. The color is from the walnut, not the finish.....

Are you staining?

Oh I see.
Yes, I will be staining.
I'd like to get the red oak darker, similar to the color of your bench.
Any suggestions for achieving that look?

[Prashun Patel]

use walnut ) You'll have to experiment with the color. Get a couple stains that are close and mix. Take notes.

[Chuck Wick]

use walnut ) You'll have to experiment with the color. Get a couple stains that are close and mix. Take notes.

Ha, yeah I'd love to use walnut but it is out of budget for this project of mine.
Thanks for the input.

[Chuck Wick]

I'm trying out your technique on my red oak table top and I've got a question. I applied 2 coats of the satin/semi/MS blend, sanded with 600 grit, and wiped it down with MS. Once the MS dried I noticed there was a bit of white sanding dust in the grain of the red oak that I couldn't get out with a MS soaked cloth. This is the bottom side of the table top I'm testing on so I'm not worried about it now but would like to prevent this from happening on the top side.

Admittedly I probably didn't quite flood on the first coat as much as was needed and leaned towards spreading it on quickly over flooding. Is it reasonable to think more of an initial flood would fill the grain and prevent this sanding dust from getting stuck in there or is this just the nature of the beasts?

On another note I live in a dry county, so to speak (Los Angeles), where oil based minwax poly and Mineral Spirits is no longer legal to sell in the stores. I started using water based poly and wipe on poly, both of which I could see every wipe mark left behind. On a weekend trip to San Diego I found some oil based poly to try this particular method out and it goes on so much better than the water based poly's. So thank you.

[Prashun Patel]

The sanding dust in the grain is to be expected. Red oak has big pores and they would never fill on a single application of a wipe on varnish. You can vacuum out the dust, but I usually just wipe the best I can. I find that most times the next layer of varnish makes that dust clear and invisible.

Beware of building too many coats. The thicker the film becomes, the harder it is to wipe the surface streak-free.

This finish regimen is really just designed to be quick and easy for items that don't require a thick film.

[William Batdorf]

I found this thread while perusing older posts. Thank you Prashun for posting this finishing recipe. I tried it today on a saw vise that I am building and I love the final result. Red oak with Minwax English chestnut stain and your wiping poly yielded an excellent final product that I am extremely pleased with. Thanks again for sharing your recipe.