Smeared finish

[David Klug]

I'm finishing a cabinet with Watco Danish Oil and a top coat of water based poly. I buffed it out with rubbing compound which gave it a very nice smooth finish, but I'm having trouble with parts of it being smeared when the light reflects on it. Does anyone have a way of getting rid of the smearing?

DK

[Howard Acheson]

How many coats of waterborne acrylic poly did you apply? You may have buffed through the finish in spots. When buffing out, particularly if you used a power buffer, you need a number of coats or the film thickness is too thin.

Did you use a rubbing compound or a polishing compound? Rubbing compound is fairly course while polishing compound is what is used to put a gloss on a finish.

The Watco should also be fully dried and cured before applying a waterborne finish. If applied too soon, the waterborne may not dry properly or may take a while to cure. While waterborne gets dry to the touch when the water dries, it then goes through a secondary curing process that can take three to four weeks. It should not be rubbed out until it has fully cured.

[Matt P]

Could it be that during rubbing the heat smudged the finish? Or perhaps the finish needed more time to cure before rubbing out? I smudged shellac once by rubbing too hard and overheating it.