What is you wipe-on-poly technique?

[Joel Sauder]

I am planning to use wipe on poly for the first time on my next project (an english walnut crotch platter). What tips can you give me to have the piece turn out with the best finish possible? Thin the poly with mineral spirits? Sand between each coat? Buff after each coat? etc.

Thanks for the advice,

Joel

[Judy Kingery]

Hi Joel,

Wipe-on poly is easy to use, far as I've done on turnings anyway, I use a soft cloth, t-shirt pieces, or lintless cloth of you want to do it as some prefer. Some people use paper towels, but I find those leave a paper residue. Just a soft well-worn t-shirt piece does well for me. Lathe-off, wipe on a thin coat. No drips. I've never had to thin it with mineral spirits.

Let it dry and buff it with cloth or .004 steel wool or even a nylon dish pad. I generally do three coats between drying and buffing - all on-lathe. Comes out really nicely from my experience. Hopefully others will give you more detailed advice, but I do really prefer wipe-on poly on larger bowls, platters, or a friction polish if on smaller pieces. Let us know how you do! Best to you, Jude

[Spencer Hochstetler]

Why wipe on? Just curious. I don't do much polyurethane, but here's what worked well the last time I applied a regular old polyurethane (not specificallly a wipe-on): Seal with Minwax Natural wood stain - no to only slight color imparted, very rich grain pop. Apply 2 coats with brush of Bona-X polyurethane (I suppose you could wipe it on). I bought the Bona-X from a professional hardwood floor installer/finisher. Levels wonderfully, no evidence of brushing. After opening the can a number of times, I noticed that it needed to be thinned by about 5% or so. Gray ScotchBrite after the sealer and first coat of poly.

I usually spray conversion varnish whenever I can though. Then again, I've not made something as fine as what are probably working with.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Joel,

That oak sideboard in my kitchen. It was finished with wiping poly. I bought some plain old Min-Wax poly, thinned it with mineral spirits and wiped it on with some paint rags I bought at HD....basically t-shirt type material. I didn't sand between coats. The thinned poly dries faster than regular poly. This helps keep down dust nibs. It also allows you to put on two coats in a single day. With the thinned poly you will have to put on more coats to get the same thickness of protection as you would have with normally unthinned poly. It worked well.

[Jim Becker]

Wiping varnish is super easy to use on turnings. But do yourself a favor and get something that doesn't contain polyurethane. An alkyd or phenolic varnish has a lot more clarity than poly...which was developed for and best for floors. Minwax Antique Oil Finish (an alkyd resin varnish) and Waterlox (a phenolic resin varnish) are examples of pre-packaged wiping varnishes. Or mix your own with any oil-based varnish cut 50% with mineral spirits. Pratt and Lambert #38 is a very nice one if you can get it locally.

[Kaptan J.W. Meek]

I haven't put it on a bowl yet, but I did refurb a very nice old desk w/it.. I put the first coat on and let it dry about 2 hrs. Then another coat.. Thin coats.. let that dry 24 hrs.. Sanded w/ 320, applied another coat.. let dry 2 hours... applied another thin coat..let dry 24 hrs... sanded w/ 600 and put on another coat, let dry 2 hrs, and put on final coat. it looked great. no runs, no brush marks, and not to thick... I like it.. but it takes time.

[Pete Simmons]

What ever you wipe it on with, treat the used rags as

Little FIRE TIME BOMBS.

Either discard in a Fire Safe container or lay them out flat until dry.


BTW - I use VIVA Paper Towels. Much better than most paper towels.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Joel, I use Minwax Wipe On Poly on most everything these days. Goes on easy and hopefully protects the wood for a long time.

I find the Minwax Wipe On works great when real fresh but starts to dry up as soon as the can is opened. When you notice it get thicker (and darker in color) - just add a little mineral spirits and you'll be good to go.

Application process that I use: Once the form is complete and sanded I remove it from the lathe and apply the first coat of poly. For this first step I use a 1" sponge brush and try to saturate the wood just like I was using an oil finish. I let that dry for 24 hours and then apply the first of many thin coats. I use a paper towel folded up to make a small pad, wipe on a thin coat and let dry for 3 to 5 hours, depending on the temp and humidity. I will apply 2 or 3 coats this way before doing the first light sanding using either a super fine sanding sponge or 600 grit wet/dry sand paper. I repeat the procedure until I have the level of finish (or gloss) that I want - usually 5 to 7 thin coats. Remember, when you do the light sanding, all you are doing is knocking the little bumps off the finish - nothing else. Doesn't take much to remove the wipe-on, so be gentle with the sandpaper.

[Prashun Patel]

I wouldn't buy Minwax wipeon poly. Just as easy (and cheaper) to buy the regular and thin with mineral spirits.

A couple tips from a newbie:

1) Thin the pure 50/50 with mineral spirits if making yr own.
2) Don't use the rag as a 'brush'. That is, don't try to flow it on. You'll be tempted bkz the coats build slowly. The best advice I read around here for wiping varnish is to wipe down yr piece like the boy at the soda shop cleaning tables. You kinda wipe it on and wipe it off so the surface is between damp & wet. Wipe in swirls, not in one direction.
3) To speed things up, you can wipe three coats on in a couple hours in quick succession. Then let the piece dry thorougly overnite before sanding nubs and doing it again. Shoot for about 9 coats.
4) Many people like to use gloss varnish and then knock it down to satin with steelwool, pumice, sandpaper, burlap, brownpaperbags, etc. That was hard for me. As a newbie finisher, my best results have been using gloss for all but the final coat, and then using satin for the final couple coats. You gotta be a little careful with satin though, it needs to be mixed and remixed during use.

You know, if you haven't tried yr hand at brushing, I'd highly suggest it. It's quicker and not scary once u get the hang of it.

My 'typical' sequence nowadays is to wipe on the first couple coats, then brush on the finals. I find wiping helps seal the surface so the brushing goes 'farther' on subsequent coats.

[Scott Donley]

I do like Steve does, only real difference is I use old T shirt, not paper. I have even done a few pens that turned out nice using wipe on poly. ( drying time a lot less )

[Roger Wilson]

Nothing wrong with using MinWax wipe-on-poly. You can use other wiping varnishes as well though (Waterlox Original works nicely). The poly and the Waterlox are already thin enough so you don't have to thin it any further nor do you have to mix up your own. At $8 per can the poly will do a very large number of bowls and is one of the cheapest things about turning.

Here's my procedure. It's very similar to what others have posted. I try to do as little as possible when finishing and still come up with a very nice finish.

-Sand the wood up to 400 grit. Vacuming between grits.
-Apply the poly (always use gloss) with either a cotton cloth or paper towels. I haven't noticed a difference. Remember you are applying the finish gently (wiping), not scrubbing it on.
-You can pour a little into the bowl then use the towel to spread it around.
-Then pour some on the towel and wipe the outside of the bowl.
-I then place the bowl down gently on a board with screws or nails driven through so the bowl is sitting on a bed of nails.
-I always let it dry overnight. Depending on temperature/humidity conditions you could do a coat every 6-8 hours safely though.
-Use steel wool (#0000, 4 zeros) to gently rub all over the bowl to smooth finish and remove any nibs.
-Vacuum the bowl with a brush attachment.
-Apply another layer of finish.
-Keep repeating this until you like what you see. It usually takes 6-8 coats or more. (the can says 3 coats, but I've never found that to be so).

-At this point I gently put on some paste wax using steel wool (#0000), let it dry for a few minutes, then buff by hand with a cloth (no paper towel here). If you have a Beall system I'd put on the carnuba wax and buff it.

This finish comes out very nicely, takes very little work, just drying time.

REMEMBER the towels, steel wool etc. are all VERY flammable and dangerous and they should be dried safely and disposed of safely.

[Chris Stolicky]

I think most comments above pretty much cover it....

I have put it on a couple of bowls, and seen many others with it. Just use cotton rags like those mentioned above. It takes several coats, but patience really pays off. I have averaged 5-7 per bowl over a few days, and it really creates a deep shine. I have also used both 600 grit sandpaper as well as 500 micro mesh in between. Like mentioned above, you are only removing the bumps.

The great thing about the wipe-on poly is that you don't the worry of having to go super slow because of bubbling like with oil based poly.

[Matt Hutchinson]

I use Watco wipe on poly. I am sure it's not much different than others. But I would say this, buy gloss. This allows you to create any sheen on your pieces, super shiny to subtle satin. Clarity is not something I have had a problem with, though oil based poly will always add a slightly yellow hue to everything.

For application I use a paper towel, let set a couple minutes, then wipe off the excess. I do this a couple times, then sand between a couple more, then wax. I haven't buffed any pieces, but that's because I don't have a buffing system yet. Wipe on poly creates a very durable hard finish, and worth having in an arsenal of finishes. It can be trying at times, being so sticky and drying too fast on large pieces before you can cover them, but still worth exploring. Good luck!

Hutch