I’m finishing an English Elm dining table with Waterlox urethane. I used the high gloss urethane, and it came out great, other than some small brush strokes. Since my wife thought it was actually too glossy, I decided to sand out the brush strokes, starting with 1000 grit. I waited for almost 2 weeks for the urethane to fully cure (Waterlox says you only have to wait 2 days) before I sanded. Once every brush stroke was gone using 1000 grit, I wet sanded, starting with 1500 grit and going all the way to 12000 grit.
The table is incredibly smooth, but it has a cloudiness to it that it didn’t have after the final gloss coat was put on.
Is there a way to get rid of the cloudiness? I’ve spoken with the folks at Waterlox, and while they say that their urethane can be sanded to achieve the desired finish, they don’t make any claims or recommendations about doing so.
I’ve read about using automotive paste waxes over polyurethane, but not sure if that would make it even cloudier.
Any advice would be appreciated.