Oil Based Poly Recommendation in California

[Justin Kwong]

Hello all,

I am finishing up my first project and was set on using Arm-R-Seal but just found out that it's illegal in California. Does anyone have any recommendations for an alternative? I am looking for a satin finish.

Thanks for your time,
Justin

[John TenEyck]

I've never used it but Minwax makes a waterbased wipe on polyurethane. That should be available in CA. Waterlox H2OLox should be available there, too.

If you don't have to use a wipe on finish there are lots of excellent waterbased varnishes to choose from. General Finishes and Target Coatings offer several products that can be applied with a brush and even more that can be sprayed.

John

[Matthew Curtis]

You may find it very hard to find an oil based finish in California. They were banned due to the VOC's

[Mike Henderson]

I've never used it but Minwax makes a waterbased wipe on polyurethane. That should be available in CA. Waterlox H2OLox should be available there, too.

If you don't have to use a wipe on finish there are lots of excellent waterbased varnishes to choose from. General Finishes and Target Coatings offer several products that can be applied with a brush and even more that can be sprayed.

John

I tried that Minwax water based wipe on finish and didn't like it. You used to be able to order oil based wipe on from outside CA but I don't know if that's still possible.

For spray on finish, I use water based. It's good and easy to spray.

Mike

[Jamie Buxton]

I’m in California. Within the last six months or so I’ve bought minwax solvent-borne varnish at Lowe’s.

[Wayne Cannon]

It is illegal in some "air quality control districts", restricted to quarts in some (including mine), and available outside of the districts.

[Justin Kwong]

I’m in California. Within the last six months or so I’ve bought minwax solvent-borne varnish at Lowe’s.

Do you think that product is durable enough for a dining table top?

[Mike Henderson]

For a dining table I'd shoot pre-catalyzed lacquer. Dining tables take a lot of abuse.

Mike

[keith wootton]

mohawk rockhard table top satin varnish. you may be able to get in quarts at rockler or woodcraft.

[Bennett Ostroff]

Do you think that product is durable enough for a dining table top?

Solvent-based varnish will absolutely durable enough for a table top.

[Jamie Buxton]

Do you think that product is durable enough for a dining table top?

The chemistry of solvent varnish is quite good. It is quite resistant to water, alcohol, oil, and the other usual household fluids. Beyond that, finish durability is mostly a question of how thick the coating is. I put more varnish on a dining table than on something like a bookcase, which sees less abuse. I'd use 3-4 brushed coats on a dining table top. With wipe-on, I'd be using more like ten coats. Or I'd use 3 coats brushed, then fine-sand to remove brush imperfections, then several coats of satin wipe-on to get a uniform sheen.

[Daniel Berlin]

Hello all,

I am finishing up my first project and was set on using Arm-R-Seal but just found out that it's illegal in California. Does anyone have any recommendations for an alternative? I am looking for a satin finish.

Thanks for your time,
Justin

Arm-R-Seal is legal and findable in just about all of california, just in quarts rather than gallons.

Even Amazon will ship it to you in california:
https://www.amazon.com/General-Finis...00ANLI2HY?th=1

(I went through checkout for the amazon.com seller and then canceled the order)

It is also in stock in most woodcraft's in california still -I was just at the one in San Carlos a few months ago.

[Daniel Berlin]

Do you think that product is durable enough for a dining table top?

As someone who does a lot of professional finishing, you are getting a lot of weird answers here.

It depends on the use of the dining table top and what you want out of it


If it's something i was making for a client's home, I would use sprayable 2k urethane (milesi makes a nice waterborne here, for solvent based i use chemcraft or ml campbell coda).
If it's something i was making for a restaurant, they mostly want super-thick + gloss so i would use polyester.

Neither of these are things you want to be using - for the former you really need supplied air, for the latter, professional techniques and really good cleaning

Milesi actually makes a nice waterborne brushable/roll-on 2k urethane that would work here if you want a super-professional finish[1]. It comes in dead flat sheen. Product is HSA6A457-5

I don't know of any commercial finisher would use pre-cat lacquer, solvent varnish from home depot, etc.

For home use, it depends on what you want. Given that most home users can occasionally sand and refinish without too much trouble, i'd just use arm-r-seal and declare victory.
Anything else is a waste of effort. I would not use pre-cat lacquer, they will be less resistant than arm-r-seal.

If you really want something much tougher than is easy to find/source, i'd use bona traffic hd or glitsa max (both floor finish) which are also a 2k urethane and really easy to get. Available both locally and on the internet, and they will happily ship.

But be careful if you go that route. Things like arm-r-seal are very easy to use. The 2k urethanes will require you be very careful in making sure any stain has cured, and will require a compatible sealer coat.
Otherwise, it will not adhere properly.

The end result will be *incredibly* durable.

Still, not sure i'd bother.

[1] Unlike spraying, rolling 2k urethane is quite safe with normal organic vapor cartridges. Isocyanate reacts with air fast enough that it all studies show it is not detectable at breathing level while rolling. See, e.g., https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26833099

[Justin Kwong]

As someone who does a lot of professional finishing, you are getting a lot of weird answers here.

I don't know of any commercial finisher would use pre-cat lacquer, solvent varnish from home depot, etc.

For home use, it depends on what you want. Given that most home users can occasionally sand and refinish without too much trouble, i'd just use arm-r-seal and declare victory.
[/URL]

Thanks for the advice, everyone. I will try and source some Arm-R-Seal from Amazon. I am looking forward to completing my first project!