Wax Removal

[Hans Braul]

I am finishing an end table and I think I've jumped the gun a bit. I applied 3 or 4 (can't remember) coats of wipe on poly with 0000 steel wool between coats, then when it looked done I applied furniture wax, first on 0000 steel wool then buffed, then applied another coat. The surface doesn't look as "finished" as I'd like. I and am thinking maybe I should have done more applications of wipe on poly before applying the finish coat of wax. Can I just remove the wax with mineral spirits, then steel wool and apply more poly? Or should I leave well enough alone and just apply a few more coats of wax? Will mineral spirits get all the wax off? Am I at risk of having problems with adhesion of the new coats of poly?

Many thanks
Hans

[Chris Barton]

Hi Hans,

Your steel wool and MS will do the job fine. I might do a little dry rubbing with as fine a steel wool after you have cleaned the surfaces just to provide a little insurance.

[Steve Schoene]

No difficulty removing the wax with mineral spirits or naptha. Just be sure to use lots of rags so you really remove it and not just spear the wax around.

I've generally found that sandpaper works better than steel wool between coats, cutting off dust nibs more cleanly. Between coats I use 320 grit. After the final coat I might do a first pass with 400 grit to go after the surface defects. I would then shift to steel wool/wax if I wanted to end up with a satin finish.

[Hans Braul]

I lOVE this forum! I was not sure I should bother posting, because I really need to get this thing done this weekend, and I was planning to just go ahead and apply more wax tonight and call it finished. You've convinced me that I won't mess up by removing the wax, so I can end up with a better product.

Thanks for the great response, in double time!

Hans