why does poly look like this?

[David Huston]

Trying to finish some closet pieces I am building and the poly looks streaky. I brushed on 4 coats of thinned gloss minwax poly and then brushed on thinned satin poly. Looked like it leveled out well while it was still wet but now it looks streaky. How should I fix this?

[David Huston]

after doing some internet searching i think that the "levelers" maybe weren't mixed enough. So i last night i stirred the crap out of my gallon of poly and thinned some down about 40 - 50% and wiped it on in long overlapping stokes. This morning it looks the same! Could my ploy be bad? It is only a month old and about half used. It is the same gallon I used on the other half of the closet and I didnt have this problem. I am thinking about just buying a new quart of poly and trying that. Anyone have any other thoughts on this?

[Prashun Patel]

Looks like the flatteners were not mixed properly. This is a risk when you thin satin. You have to stir and stir some more and keep stirring every few brush strokes.

[John TenEyck]

Your pic looks like you brushed in alternate directions with each stroke. Is that right? If so, try brushing only in one direction and see if that improves your result.

Personally, I don't like to thin finishes unless they won't flow out. Not because the flatteners settling out quickly - I've never found that to be a problem - but because it's generally not necessary, at least for the finishes I use.

John