Mineral spirits

[John Grabowski]

Well...I am about to finish my largest project to date...a cherry dining table. It is all cured and ready for a good rub. I know that this been discussed here before but I can't seem to find it...can I clean the table btw sandings with mineral spirits and a rag instead of tack cloth? I a pretty sure that will be ok, just wanted to check with the guys in the know before completing this task incorrectly.

Thanks in advance,

John G

[Phil Phelps]

What is it that has cured, John?

[Scott Holmes]

What finish and how long has it been curing?

If this is your first rub-out you may want to use mineral oil instead of mineral spirits as the lube, it cuts a bit slower and is good lube to use your first time rubbing out a finish.

[Howard Acheson]

The way to clean off sanding created by between coat sanding is to vacuum it off. Done correctly, there should be no need for further wiping or using a tack rag. A tag rag tends to create more problems than it solves. It can leave contaminates on the surface that can cause adherence problems and can move contaminates from one part of the surface to the rest of the surface. If you feel the need to wipe, use a rag lightly--and I stress lightly--dampened with mineral spirits. It should not leave any visiable evidence of moisture on the surface. This wiping is not to be substituted for the vacuuming. Wiping should only occur as a final step after vacuuming.

I only wipe before the final coat. I just vacuum between coats.

[Scott Holmes]

Howie,

Anytime I vacuum, I end up putting dust in the air. How do you combat that? I know I could go to another room but that doesn't always help. That's why I clean between coats with a rag damp with MS.

[John Grabowski]

Sorry for the lack of info...it was a spray lacquer over blo...it's been curing in my shop since thanksgiving so it's good to go.

Thanks again,

John G

[Bill Davis]

I prefer to wet sand after applying lacquer to get the finished appearance I want. I use mineral spirits and mineral oil lubricant (about 50-50 but mix to taste - no not to taste, poor choice of words). I use a cork padded sanding block on flat surfaces and depending on the thickness of the finish and its roughness I might start with p240-p360 grit wet paper then proceed up to 600 ot 1000 depending on the final appearance I want. Just be careful not to sand through the finish. A thinner build of lacquer calls for finer paper and less sanding. My current project had a fairly thick build (maybe 6 coats of sprayed lacquer) and was faifly smooth to begin with so I have so far used p360 and am now going to go a step finer. The wet sanding is a bit messy, though so is dry sanding just in a different way. Have a good supply of paper towls or rags for wiping so you can inspect for progress.
Post a picture so we can see the finished table. Sounds nice.

[Bob Wingard]

Cheap micro fiber dust cloths work great.

[Howard Acheson]

>>>> Anytime I vacuum, I end up putting dust in the air.

I have a Goretex filter on my vac. Little dust get through. Also, a little dust is not an issue until the application of the final coat. The finishing process I taught minimized any dust during the application and drying of the final coat.

To minimize dust, flat sand lightly before the final coat. Then vacuum off the dust. Get your finishing tools and materials out and then vacuum the floor and any other surfaces in the area. Now get out of the area turning on your air cleaner if you have one. Let the dust settle and be collected for a couple of hours. Change your clothes and, trying to minimize raising any dust, go back into the finish area. Now wipe the surface down with a rag lightly dampened with mineral spirits and carefully apply the final coat. Again get out of the area for 4-6 hours until the surface is at least tack free. This process minimizes dust getting on the wet surface. Much of the dust that gets on finishes comes from the finisher himself or herself.

The thing you absolutely want to do is to never use compressed air or a bench brush to remove sanding dust just before you plan to apply the final coat. Both of these raise enormous amounts of dust into the air.

[Casey Gooding]

In my experience, it isn't necessary to let lacquer cure that long. A day or two is usually plenty. The solvents in lacquer and shellac dry rapidly and and the finish cures quickly, especially compared to oil based finishes.
Others may have a different opinion.

[George Octon]

It'll get a lot of it. There is dust that won't go into a vacuum, but you'll see it if you wipe it up, either with a rag with alcohol or even a rag with water. Then the tack rag.

[Prashun Patel]

I think I missed something. He's asking about MS during the rub-out, not the topcoating process. I didn't think dust or contaminants or adhesion is an issue here. The only issue would be leaving residual coarser grit as you move up. To that end, I'd think it'd be fine to wipe with MS - especially if yr going to use it as a lube for the next grit.

[Tony Bilello]

[QUOTE=Howard Acheson;1591435].... A tag rag tends to create more problems than it solves. It can leave contaminates on the surface that can cause adherence problems and can move contaminates from one part of the surface to the rest of the surface......QUOTE]

+1 on the tack cloth