Expert: Eileen Cronk - 8/17/2007

Question
QUESTION: Hi Eileen, I have done quite a bit of woodwork over the last 20 years, and my polyurethane never has come out "perfect", even on new wood. Right now, I'm refinishing some beautiful old (50  years) oak kitchen cabinet doors, and they just won't come out  right for me. I've tried the foam brushes, quality brushes, even spray poly. I've used ultra-thin coats, heavy coats and about every where in between. I sand between coats, and think I know what I'm doing there, I paint cars with great results. The poly just looks blotchy. What am I doing wrong?
I have good luck with hand polished coatings, but really would like the protection of poly.

ANSWER: Hi Lawson
Nice to hear from you.
Personally I feel you are doing nothing wrong here Lawson.
If the poly is fresh (very important), you have the correct brush (super important and no foam), you have tried different strengths of poly (I usually just use as it comes out of the can), and you obviously know your way around a piece of sandpaper, the culprit is the wood.
Funny enough I have never had a bad poly job. Having said that, the only place I ever use it is on table tops that will get high use, and of course on kitchen cabinets like you.
Now I am sitting here trying to figure out what could be wrong with this lovely old oak.
So I'll just list things as they come to me.
1..Was the surface degreased and sanded prior to the poly?
I usually degrease the cupboards really well prior to anything else. Even sanding.
2..are you applying the poly while the doors lie flat or are they still on the cupboards? Poly is best applied on a flat surface as then it can properly spread.
3..And finally is my choice for cause of the problem.
Are you staining this old oak prior to the poly?
Its my experience that poly (or any finish) should never be applied to wood that has not been stained.
Now don't start thinking this old girl is nuts...this is a fact in my world LOL
And you use a natural color Minwax stain if you do not want to add any color to the wood. Now ask yourself, why in the heck would they make a stain that added no color to the wood?
So Lawson, thats about all I know on this subject.
I hope you find here a clue to your problem.
Get back to me please.
Regards
Eileen



---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thanks for your help Eileen, I just wanted to follow up on some of your questions:
Yes I'm staining the wood before the poly, but I'm not ruling out the wood as the problem, because I have had to strip it multiple times to get the old finish off.
I am staining and refinishing them laying flat on a work bench in my shop, and they have been degreased and sanded.
I wish I could attach a picture to show you what they look like. Sometimes they dry with what looks like brush marks, other times there are spots that just don't shine. (it's gloss poly).
I've begun to think that the poly is drying before it has a chance to flow out and spread. I'm within the recommended temperature and humidity ratings, but I wonder if it wouldn't turn out better in a cooler/dryer climate.


Answer
Hi again Lawson.
Well this certainly is a puzzle.
A cooler temp would not allow the poly to flow as well.
And a dryer climate is better for drying time.
I just cannot see that as the problem here.
So I have to ask a couple of questions back.
1..Is this your first experience applying poly to oak?
2 ..Have you had this problem with other kinds of wood?
I ask these questions because I wonder if what you are seeing after drying is actually the characteristics of the oak.
Oak is different than other woods to finish due to the coarse grain.
If you look across finished oak you see areas that are less shiny than other areas.
The less shiny areas are always the grain areas.
On some oak, its virtually impossible to get the high shine in the grain areas even after multiple coats of finish.
So get back to me please
Regards
Eileen