Question about wipe on poly

IMO, it applies to any varnish you apply, for the point you mentioned.

-- Our village hasn't lost it's idiot, he was elected to congress.

I have never used wipe on poly, but as above I think it would be true based on the number of costs

-- Norman - I never never make a mistake, I just change the design.

Yep! If you’ve gotta use poly, apply gloss for depth, then either rub out or apply a less glossy top coat.
Needless to say, I don’t use a polywhatshisname finish unless it will be for a heavily used surface.
Bill

-- bill@magraphics.us

Yes it’s true, but it depends on how thick of a film thickness you want. This applies to any “clear” or translucent finish – poly, lacquer, varnish, etc. Typically for wipe on 2-3 thin coats is what one is after, for that “close grained”, hand rubbed oil look. My tests didn’t show much difference with a thin film. Different story with a thicker film. For smooth woods, like maple, I’ve rubbed out fairly thick film poly finishes done with all satin and was very pleased with the clarity. Not so much for heavy grained deep pored wood like oak since the amount of finish is so much greater to fill the pores. Your test results may vary. BTW, wipe on is just thinned poly. It’s much cheaper to just buy the regular poly of whatever brand you like and thin with 50% mineral spirits.

BTW, wipe on is just thinned poly. It s much cheaper to just buy the regular poly of whatever brand you like and thin with 50% mineral spirits.

- OSU55

I keep reading this but not sure how valid it is.
At HD, 1 Quart of Minwax wipe on poly is $12, 1 Quart of Minwax poly $11, 1 Quart of Klean Strip Odorless MS $9.
So price for quart is $12 for wipe on, and $10 for mix it yourself. The Klean Strip MS gets very low ratings and the reviews indicate its not suitable to use it as a thinner. I don’t think it is even possible to buy real MS is California which makes it impossible to mix my own wipe on poly.

-- Joel, Encinitas, CA

Yeah, California is a different planet. As long as the ms isn’t the milky “eco-friendly” crap, it will work fine – I used Klean Strip until the local Lowes changed to Crown, both work the same. Here in Missouri:

Qt Minwax poly 10.77
Gal Crown MS 14.98
Pint Minwax Wipe on 11.97

Calculated out that’s $7.33/qt mix your own vs $23.94/qt wipe on (plus taxes). That’s how valid it is here. I just checked HD online and they only had pints of wipe on listed – I think you may be confusing sizes, etc.

BTW, wipe on is just thinned poly. It s much cheaper to just buy the regular poly of whatever brand you like and thin with 50% mineral spirits.

- OSU55

I keep reading this but not sure how valid it is.
At HD, 1 Quart of Minwax wipe on poly is $12, 1 Quart of Minwax poly $11, 1 Quart of Klean Strip Odorless MS $9.
So price for quart is $12 for wipe on, and $10 for mix it yourself. The Klean Strip MS gets very low ratings and the reviews indicate its not suitable to use it as a thinner. I don t think it is even possible to buy real MS is California which makes it impossible to mix my own wipe on poly.

- Joel_B

California issues aside, if you look at the MSDS for almost any of the store bought wiping formulas you’ll see the thinner component to be closer to 70%. That requires a lot more coats to get the same amount of resin onto the work piece. Also (just guessing) many of us would by MS in gallons since it has so many other uses…to save more using the cheaper paint thinner works just as good.

-- Our village hasn't lost it's idiot, he was elected to congress.

Your right, I was wrong on the sizes, the wipe on is a pint.
Does anybody of MS you can buy in California that would work?

-- Joel, Encinitas, CA

What about naptha, can you get that out there?

-- Our village hasn't lost it's idiot, he was elected to congress.

It appears this product is available to you:

I think this is clear and not the milky “green” stuff, and should work fine. I think you might be confusing the different products.

It appears this product is available to you:

I think this is clear and not the milky “green” stuff, and should work fine. I think you might be confusing the different products.

- OSU55

Yeah it looks like I can that one at HD. I guess I just need to avoid the one that says “green”.

Thanks

-- Joel, Encinitas, CA