# Can polyurethane be applied over laquer



## woody57

I must admit that even though I have many years experience in furniture and cabinet making that finishing is a weak point for me. I have been known to hire a professional to finish some of my projects.

I want to refinish some cabinets. I would like to lightly sand and apply a couple coats of poly with a brush. The current finish is laquer that was sprayed on. I won't be able to use a spray gun because of the location. The reason I chose poly is for the durability. If anyone has another suggestion, I'm open.

My concern is will it adhere properly to the laquer?


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## olddutchman

Always try to make changes on a piece not seen, or a scrap that has thr same finish over it. A lot depends on the finish before. If the paint was installed by a painter who used good guality paint, or came painted from the factory makes a big difference. Some of the laquers used todayby amatures are not a true laquer. I have had a laquer finish wrinkle when sprayed over. Laquer will normally take a another finish just fine. In order to get a good adhession, use a pre paint cleaner for laquer. It will soften the surface, and clean the finish for new coat of paint. Poly eurothane finishes are not very hot to finishes it's applied to. The prepaint cleaner will also give You clues to how Your old finisg will hold up. Try that in a non seen place also. Apply it over the old finish and then watch it for reactions . If it doesnt keep the old finish soft, and dries up in ablot 3 minutes, It will work ok. I hope this gives you a good heads up as to what can do wrong!


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## bilbaggins

Hi woody57-my sources tell me poly and lacquer repel / dont mix well!

I build guitars and you have to use one or the other. Either can be used with acrylics, water based finishes etc but not with each other.

If you find out different … please post it here!

rgds


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## miles125

My experience is that you can put anything on top of lacquer. But not so the other way around.


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## Carbide

Actually I have called Minwax with the same question. They said absolutely not. They said that Laquer is meant to soak into the wood and Poly is meant to sit on top of the wood. They told me that the two would not be compatible and would possibly not dry and cure right. I have run into finish compatabilities in the past and ended up stripping a freshly built set of walnut cabinets to start over. The problem actually emerged about a week after the finish had cured. Not a good idea to experiment on a finished project.


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## DMIHOMECENTER

Alkyd varnish over ordinary lacquer. Urethane will adhere, but not for the long haul. If you use catalyzed lacquer (pre-cat or post-cat), the durability is built-in and no need to put any protective coat over it.


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