A little finish booboo

[Darius Ferlas]

I completed a 3 weekends project, or so I thought.
The problem is with the finish. I used wipe on poly (home made) and a foam brush. The very top coat is wax polish and I an generally pleased with the way thing look except for one (two, actually) issues.

One is a little fingerprint and the other is signs of smudging at the edges of the drawers. I wiped then left to right and back. The picture doesn't show this but the problem is that about 1 to 2 inches from either side of the drawers' edges you can see (under some light angles) how the foam brush touched the surface and then was moved towards the center of the surface. Not a big thing really, but it just drives me crazy so I'd like to fix that.

My wipe on poly was 50/50 glossy polyurethane/mineral spirits.

Here are the questions:

1. what is best to remove the top layer of wax.
2. How do I touch and then pick up the foam brush so that the finish doesn't cure with the process, so to speak, embedded in the final finish?

[Phil Phelps]

You can clean the wax off with mineral spirits. If you have a print in the finish, you need to lightly sand that area and refinish.

[Jeff Monson]

I have always used a clean white rag for wipe on poly, I would think if you lightly sanded the area you could put on another coat or 2 to repair the damage.

[Darius Ferlas]

Thank you both.

It looks like I have some re-finishing scheduled for this weekend.

[Howard Acheson]

I'm a little confused. You say, "I used wipe on poly (home made) and a foam brush". Why are you using a foam brush if you are using a wipe on varnish? Foam brushes will always do what you see if you start your stroke in the middle of a panel. You can minimize it by having your brush moving and sort of swooping down like a pilot practising "touch and go" landings.

But the real issue is that if you had really used the proper wiping varnish technique, you would not have to deal with the issue at all. The proper wiping varnish technique virtually eliminates any of the problems you have.

Here is something that should help. A friend of mine put it together years ago and it has worked well for many.

QUOTE

There are a number of suggested application regimens that are totally subjective. The number of coats in a given day, the % of cut on various coats, which coat to sand after, when to use the blade and a whole host of other practices are all minor differences between finishers. There are some things that I consider sacred when applying a wipe-on finish.

First, you can use any full strength oil based clear finish. Polyurethane varnish or non-poly varnish is fine.

If you are making your own wipe-on the mix is scientific - thin. I suggest 50/50 with mineral spirits because it is easier to type than any other ratio and easy to remember. Some finish formulators have jumped on the bandwagon and you can now get "wipe on" finish pre-mixed. If you use a pre-mixed, thinning is generally not necessary. But making your own is cheaper and you know what's in it.

The number of coats in a given day is not important. Important is to apply a wet coat with an applicator and merely get it on. Think of a 16 year old kid working as a busboy at Denny's you have sent over to wipe off a table. Sort of rub/swirl the the material on like you would if you were applying a paste wax. Don't attempt any straight strokes. The applicator should be wet but not soaked. The applicator can be a non-embossed paper towel shop towel, half a T-shirt sleeve or that one sock left after a load of washing. Then leave it alone. The surface should not be glossy or wet looking and, if applied correctly, there should be no "brush stroke" type marks. If you have missed a spot, ignore it - you will get it on the next coat. If you try and fix a missed spot you will leave a mark in the finish.

Timing for a second coat involves the pinkie test. Touch the surface with your pinkie. If nothing comes off you are ready for another coat. If was tacky 5 minutes ago but not now, apply your next coat just as you applied the previous coat. Remember, you are wet wiping, not flooding. After applying the second coat, let it fully dry for 48 hours. Using 320 paper and a sanding block lightly sand the surface flat. Now, begin applying more coats. Do not sand between coats unless you have allowed more than 24 hours to elapse since the prior coat. The number of coats is not critical - there is no critical or right number to apply. For those who need a rule, four more coats on non-critical surfaces or six more coats on surfaces that will get abraded seems to work.

After your last coat has dried at least over night you will have boogers in the surface. You should not have marks in the surface because you ignored application flaws. You may have dust, lint and, if you live in Texas, bug legs. Use a utility knife blade at this point. Hold it between your thumb and forefinger, near the vertical, and gently scrape the surface. Gentle is the important word - no harder than you would scrape your face. If you start scraping aggressively you will leave small cut marks in the surface. After you have scraped to the baby butt stage gently abrade the surface with 320 dry paper or a gray ScotchBrite. Clean off the surface. Now, leave the area for two hours and change your clothes. Apply your last coat with a bit more care than the previous coats and walk away.

An anal person is going to have a tough time with this process. Missed spots have to be ignored. Wet wipe, don't flood. Scraping to babies butt smooth means scraping no harder than scraping a babies butt. Ignoring any of these will leave marks that are tough to get out. Getting these marks out requires some aggressive sanding to flatten out the surface and starting over.

Jim Kull

END QUOTE

Finally, It works better to use a gloss varnish for all coats except the last. The flatteners in semi-gloss and satin tend to rapidly fall out of suspension when the finish is highly thinned. If you want a non-gloss finish, use it only on the final coat or two and be sure to stir the material frequently or you will end up with cloudy streaks.