First experience with wiping poly.....

[Tony Falotico]

Had my first try at wiping poly today. I used the Minwax satin (only brand I could find locally). After the first coat, I wasn't sure we would become friends.........went on the hardwoods fine. The 3/4 birch ply soaked it up like a sponge, the 1/4" birch ply back was rough and kept 'grabbing' the cloth. All was equally sanded down to 220 grit.

Let it set for four hours and did a quick sand with 220 and the vibrating sander, cleaned it up, wiped with tack cloth. The second coat wiped on real nice. I think we may become friends after all.

Plan to rub it with steel wool tomorrow evening and put third coat, then rub with fine steel wool and fourth coat later in the week. Will post pics when complete.

[John Miliunas]

Had my first try at wiping poly today. I used the Minwax satin (only brand I could find locally). After the first coat, I wasn't sure we would become friends.........went on the hardwoods fine. The 3/4 birch ply soaked it up like a sponge, the 1/4" birch ply back was rough and kept 'grabbing' the cloth. All was equally sanded down to 220 grit.

Let it set for four hours and did a quick sand with 220 and the vibrating sander, cleaned it up, wiped with tack cloth. The second coat wiped on real nice. I think we may become friends after all.

Plan to rub it with steel wool tomorrow evening and put third coat, then rub with fine steel wool and fourth coat later in the week. Will post pics when complete.

Tony, you didn't mention if you did this, but I find if I cut the Poly about 1:1 with naphta, if works really well. It doesn't go on as thick, so you need to recoat more, but on the flip side, the naphta really helps dry it quicker, so more recoats are possible in relatively close timeframe to each other. YMMV, but it works for me... :cool:

[David Klug]

Ok John I'll bite, what is YMMV?

DK

[Bart Leetch]

David
YMMV = Your Mileage May Very

Tony
Have you tried synthetics like Scotchbrite sanding pads. If not you may find you like the as well as steel wool.

[Tony Falotico]

John, I'll give that a try, especially on the first coat. I notice the can does empty rather quickly.

I used a cotton cloth -- good choice or is something else better?

Bart - I've never tried them, I'll pick one up and give it a try.

Thanks for the tips.

[John Miliunas]

John, I'll give that a try, especially on the first coat. I notice the can does empty rather quickly.

I used a cotton cloth -- good choice or is something else better?

Bart - I've never tried them, I'll pick one up and give it a try.

Thanks for the tips.

Tony, I usually use cotton from time to time, but mainly user paper towels. I find the best way to do the wipe-on method is to use the 50/50 mix, apply it a bit on the heavy side, but then take another paper towel and wipe it off immediately. Again, drying time is greatly reduced doing it this way and you end up doing more coats, hence more labor intense. On the other hand, you're also building up the finish, which I find lends itself to a smoother finish. And Bart is spot on with using the Scotch-Brite pads. Use the white ones, as they're least aggressive. Let us know how that works for you. :cool:

[Howard Acheson]

There are a number of suggested application regimens that are totally subjective. The number of coats in a given day, the % of cut on various coats, which coat to sand after, and a whole host of other practices are all minor differences between finishers. There are some things that I consider basic when applying a wipe-on finish.

If you are making your own wipe-on the mix is scientific--I suggest 50/50 because it is easier to type than any other ratio and easy to remember.

The number of coats in a given day is not important. Important is to apply a wet coat with an applicator and merely get it on. Think of a the kid working as a busboy at Denny's you have sent over to wipe off a table. The applicator can be a paper towel, half a T-shirt sleeve or that one sock left after a load of washing. Then leave it alone. If you have missed a spot, ignore it - you will get it on the next coat. If you try and fix a missed spot you will leave a mark in the finish.

Timing for a second coat involves the pinkie test. Touch the surface with your pinkie. If nothing comes off you are ready for another coat. It was tacky 5 minutes ago but not now. Apply your next coat just as you applied the previous coat. Remember, you are wet wiping not flooding. Apply two initial coats, letting them fully dry at least overnight.

After it has dried at least over night you will have boogers in the surface. You should not have marks in the surface because you ignored application flaws. You will have dust and lint.There are two choices at this point. One is to use 320 sandpaper on a sanding block and sand smooth. The second is use a new utility knife blade. Hold it between your thumb and forefinger, near the vertical, and gently scrape the surface. Gentle is the important word - no harder than you would scrape your face. If you start scraping aggressively you will leave small cut marks in the surface. After you have scraped to the baby butt stage gently abrade the surface with 320 dry paper or a gray ScotchBrite. At this point with either choice, clean off the surface and begin applying more finish until you reach the point where one more coat will be perfection. Apply the next coat as soon as the prior coat is tack free. No need to sand or abrade. Stop and allow it to dry over night. Repeat either the sanding with 400 paper or again use the blade and abrading step. Thoroughly clean your worksace, turn on the air cleaner and leave for at least two hours. Change your clothes and then apply your last coat with a bit more care than the previous coats and gently walk away.

An anal person is going to have a tough time with this process. Not sanding between coats. Missed spots have to be ignored. Wet wipe, don't flood. Scraping to babies butt smooth means scraping no harder than scraping a babies butt. Ignoring any of these will leave marks that are tough to get out. Getting these marks out requires some agressive sanding to flatten out the surface and starting over.