wipe on water based poly

[brian rohland]

wondering if anyone has ever wated down with minral water water based poly and used it as a wipe on.never heard of it but i know wipe on oil seems to be liked and i never seen water based wipe on.I try to use water based in the winter because my heater burns the fumes of anything else stinks the whole house up.

[Jim Becker]

Water borne products should not be reduced more than about 10%. They are not the same as oil based products. Water is just the "Carrier" for the finish and not it's solvent. When you excessively thin water borne products you are spreading the finish molecules and their solvents out farther and can very much compromise the quality of the finish. Further, water borne products tend to dry very quickly, which makes it harder to apply well by wiping, IMHO. They are best applied by spraying or brushing...I spray them.

One other thing water borne "poly" is also different than the oil based products. All water borne finishes are acrylics. When they have "poly" or "polyurethane" on the label, they have some of that resin added and you get some of the abrasion resistance that polyurethane resin affords, but not what you get with an oil based product. But then again, poly was designed for floors...and IMHO, isn't really the best finish to use on woodworking projects in any form. My opinion, but one shared by many.

[joe milana]

Minwax makes a water base wipe on "poly". Check out their website, I think I have seen it at HD. I have never used it so I can't comment.

[brian rohland]

jim i agree i hate waterbase poly also but my chioce is limited in the winter months,but i can't say i had better success with oil poly either.i have heard good things about the wipe but i have to wait until summer.right now i am trying a sample experiment i am puting about 10 coats of water base on a piece of walnut.then i am going to try a rub out hpefully i can get that pro silky look.also i ment to say distilled water in the previous thread.and i will definitely checkout the wipe on minwax.but after what jim said it makes me think it will be the same stuff with wipe on on the can still worth a shot thanks

[Jim Becker]

Brian...you don't need anything with "poly" in it for finishing woodworking projects. Polyurethane is just one kind of resin used to make finishes. It's great for floors where abrasion resistance is king, but tends to be cloudy and "plastic" looking on furniture. Unfortunately, the marketing gods seem to stock the shelves generously with poly products and give very little choices when it comes to non-poly finishes, at least at the mass-market retail level. The best solution is not to buy finishes from the 'borg, but that's not aways convenient for folks. I have and do use Minwax Polycrylic from time to time, although I pretty much spray it the same as I spray Target Coatings water borne products.

BTW, I'm hoping that your choice of water borne in the winter isn't because you think that you can use them at lower temps. You can't. The tempurature range for water bornes is not unlike that of oil based products. If you're wanting to to to water borne because of VOC (fumes), then consider that your safety in the summer is just as important...perhaps switching to them all the time is something to consider.

You can rub out water bornes, but the specific product you choose may affect how well you can make it work.

[brian rohland]

jim my reason for water base use is fumes but not for safety.my shop is in the basement and i have an unvented gas heater that pulls the smell of anthing and amplifies it bad. my upstairs heat is vented forced hot air which the furnace is based in my shop anyhow so there is a safety issue also.in the summer i can get away with finishing in my garage.if i try that in the winter i would have to heat it anyhow and i would be back to sqare one.unfortunately being a bricklayer most of my spare time is in the winter so i am forced to use water base.I am open to any ideas thanks