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Norm Zax
05-19-2011, 5:21 AM
Hi all,
Id like to buy and send a couple of pints of paint (more specifically Minwax Wipe on Poly) across the ocean to the middle east (Israel).
Do you think that there is any danger in having it in a suitcase? Im thinking of:
a) when they scan it, will they be worried (and worry the passenger)
b) in the air, will low pressure affect the can
Maybe putting it in the post is easier.
For some reason, Minwax wont export it (in fact they wont even answer overseas email!). What are THEY worried about?
Thanks for any comments,
Norm

Caspar Hauser
05-19-2011, 6:01 AM
What with all the love and joy being so freely expressed nowadays I would think that the combination of an aeroplane, flammable liquids and your destination would promise all kinds of fun.

Put it in the post.

Chris Kennedy
05-19-2011, 7:00 AM
I think you are going to have trouble either way. According to the TSA site (Google airline prohibited items), flammable paints are prohibited, and I am betting that wipe-on poly is flammable. Even if it isn't, I doubt you would be able to convince a TSA agent otherwise. There are similar restrictions for shipping things.

Cheers,

Chris

Greg Peterson
05-19-2011, 10:13 AM
You can't ship beer via UPS, but you can ship elk urine and fire arms. Someone shipped a flare gun designed to start controlled fires. Apparently fire departments use these for practice burns. Anyway, one of these fell out of the box and went off. It set a fire in the back of the UPS truck at the local hub. Burned it up nicely.

Imagine a pint or two of a flammable liquid in there and you are the fireman that gets to go in there and extinguish the fire. Or better yet, the worker that thinks he is standing a safe distance from the inferno.

Norm Zax
05-19-2011, 1:48 PM
And yet, paint in cans and even in spray cans are exported all over the globe. Is it all be sea ?!?!

Curt Harms
05-20-2011, 10:19 AM
Perhaps go to UPS or FedEx web site? Or check airlines' sites about hazardous materials. For example on U.S. carriers, I think you can have up to 11 pounds of small arms ammunition in checked baggage. If you can source poly locally, cut it 50-50 or so with mineral spirits and you have wipe on poly.

Chen-Tin Tsai
05-20-2011, 12:16 PM
Isn't there some variety of varnish available? There's gotta be some form of alkyd, phenolic or urethane resin varnish available in Isreal. Pair it up with some sort of drying oil (boiled linseed, tung, or walnut Oil) and some mineral spirits in the right proportions, and you get something akin to Minwax wipe-on Poly. Flexner's finishing book has valuable info of this sort and I think it might help you find comparable products, even if it's not the usual brands available in the US. Who know, you might even be able to get some sort of high-resin, soya oil based varnish (like P&L #38) that has all but disappeared from American paint store shelves due to VOC restrictions.

Lee Schierer
05-23-2011, 11:51 AM
Since most bagagge compartments are not pressurized to the level that the cabin is you might have lots of wipe on poly on the contents of your suitcase if teh lids pop off. Particularly if the gorilla in the baggage handling area drops the suitcase few times. Ship the poly via UPS or FedEx, then there's no hassle for you. I've had 4 quarts MinWax stain shipped to my house by UPS with no problems.

Norm Zax
05-24-2011, 1:32 PM
Chen-Tin, I can locally get all varnishes you mentioned but I am under the impression that WipeOn Poly has been thickened somehow to allow for rag (vs brush) application. Its this special viscosity that I am looking for. Thanks in any case.

wyatt wright
05-30-2011, 7:32 PM
Whenever I want something shipped I use a large shipping company that I feel I can trust. Traveling with something myself may be iffy like what they will and will not let you travel with. What are the amounts of paint that you are trying to ship and where from?

Steve Schoene
05-30-2011, 7:44 PM
Minwas wiping varnishing has been THINNED to make it more suitable for wiping. All you need to do is add mineral spirits to any of those other varnishes to get wiping varnish. Virtually all the resulting wiping varnishes will be superior to the Minwax product. There are products called gel varnishes that can be wiped on. These are, in my opinion, hardly worth carrying across town, yet alone half way around the world.