# What is the best finish for a bathroom vanity?



## SallySue

I'm building a bathroom vanity from walnut and am curious about what you lumberjocks consider the best finish for such a project. I'm not comfortable with spraying so it needs to be either a brush on or wipe on product. Also keep in mind that it needs to be fairly water resistant. All advice is appreciated.


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## Bertha

I'm tuning in because I've got the same project coming up. I was planning on a shellac seal followed by wipe on poly. I'm interested to read the responses because I'm no finisher. Hate it, in fact. Thanks for asking this question.


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## ajosephg

Considering the high humidity environment and frequent cleaning, polyurethane would be the most durable finish. Keep in mind that a thicker film will last longer than an thinner. Therefore fewer coats would be required if you brush it on as opposed to a wipe on. I don't think that a shellac seal would bring anything to the party and might even inhibit good bonding of PU to the wood.


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## stevenhsieh

Many people use shellac as first seal coat or grain filler. Not only it dries fast but also seal the woods. Which takes less polyurethane to build up on opened grains of woods.

I rarely use polyurethane on furnitures.
It's great for floors or table tops as such.

For bathroom use, I would use interior phenolic varnish.


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## Bertha

Joe's got a good point about the shellac. I was planning on using it more as a tint than a conditioner. Your point is well taken about the bond. I'm thinking about hickory for my vanity but it'll have to be yellowed to match the cedar walls (log home). Perhaps a tint is in order. Thanks, Joe.


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## Sawkerf

I've had good luck with Minwax Polycrylic. If you don't want to spray, use a foam brush to build up 2-3 light coats. Lightly sand with a fine grit sandpaper (or sanding sponge) between coats.


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## Loren

I used shellac on a fine walnut vanity with just wax on top and many
years later the finish is holding up well. People get over-concerned
about shellac's weakness with water, it's really mostly only a problem
with horizontal surfaces where people set drinks.

Shellac does have a really excellent, crystalline appearance and rubs
out beautifully.


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## bobsmyuncle

*Waterlox original.* I've used it several times on vanities. A custom kitchen co. I do work for uses it as their finish for wood countertops.

A coat or two of shellac first will bring out some of the wood figure. For poly and w/b, it needs to be dewaxed, but it's not necessary for Waterlox. But I'd use SealCoat because I have it around all the time. Orange shellac would be another good choice.

Try both ways on a piece of scrap and see which you prefer.


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## Bertha

So does this sound reasonable to all:
1) Bring it down to 220, 320 or so
2) Hit with 1lb. dewaxed shellac (tint optional by testing)
3) Knock down with 320, 400 or so
4) Waterlox
? I haven't used Waterlox in a long time. Do you 0000 between coats?

Thanks everyone.


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## stevenhsieh

Yes just sand it to 220.For between coats use 320 grit.
Instead of sanding between coats you can use steel wool.


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## SallySue

Thanks so much to all of you for your responses. I haven't used Waterlox yet, but look forward to trying it on this project.


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## bilyo

For bathroom or kitchen counter tops, use quartz, granite, marble, or plastic laminate. You can thank me later ;>)


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## JohnDon

Assuming you're talking about the cabinet proper, and not the top, I'd bet that most corporate cabinet suppliers finish bath cabinets the same as kitchen cabinets: lacquer. My experience- including growing up with five rambunctious sibs- is that barring a catastrophic plumbing failure, the cabinet is not likely to be exposed to much direct water contact, and less so than a kitchen sink cabinet. Also, unless hermetically sealed, no finish is superior in protecting against any high humidity damage to wood. Just my $0.02


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## Lazyman

Looks like Mr Benedict is reviving a bunch of ancient postings in order to post links to a specific website. I think that we call that spam.


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## bold1

I use oil based poly exterior grade, for high humidity, or wet locations. Not as good protection as marine finishes, but exterior grades have more water and UV protection than interior and you have more choices of finish(satin, flat, gloss), than most marine finishes. Most of what I've used in the past few years are Zar quick dry, oil base exterior. It seems to be holding up great and the quick dry is nice in that there is less wait time and less odor because of the faster dry time.


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## JohnDon

Oops! Fell right into that. Thanks for the heads up!


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## trsnider

I built a Greene & Greene style vanity for our master bathroom and finished it with Minwax water based polyurethane. It's been 5 years or so and the finish has held up fine. I don't know that there's any real need to spend the big bucks on a "fancy" finish. But I'm really frugal (cheap). Wish I wasn't at times.


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