Expert: Jamie Yocono - 7/1/2007

Question
bought gorgeous old mahogany table. Top gets white marks from everything, even warm basket of biscuits.  Scratches. Since it is only the top needing repair was talked into tackling the refinishing myself.

Sanded, went well.  Had stain matched at Sherwin Williams.  Applied, went well.  Was told to do anywhere from 3 to 6 coats of polyurethane.  Why didn't I stop at 4???????? Was gorgeous.  Sanded between each coat with steel wool.  Was perfect.  Decided to do coat 5 just to assure it would be protected.  Well....first half of table is awful.  It has sections that are dull and some shiny.  Other half of table top is perfect.  Waited 5 days to be sure it was dry, sanded bad 1/2 again with steel wool.  Applied another coat and same thing has happened.  Help.  It doesn't go on smoothly like other coats,  gets streaks.  Some areas look like they are soaking in.  Definitely not as easy as the other coats.  Can you help?  Thanks. B.

Answer
Hi Bonnie,

When I receive an All-Experts question, I get a link that takes me to a page, allowing me to respond. There are a few boxes that I can check off- like "sorry, this is a repeat question" or "sorry, this is out of my area of expertise" or "sorry, this is too long and involved for me to go into".

So I was a little tempted to check one of those boxes, and not answer this question. See- on one hand, it's a little out of my area of expertise, since I rarely use polyurethane. Also, it's a long and involved question that I could probably write 10 or 12 pages on instructions about. See my dilemma?

But- I want to help.  I have a few questions and comments. First- I can't stand the thought of that salesman telling you to apply so many coats! He might be better off selling shoes instead of varnish!  I can't think of a single time when 6 coats of anything would be a good idea, excpet in one or two cases. So I think when you wrote that the top looked great after four coats- you answered your own question. I think part of the cloudiness is that the top layers of polyurethane are having trouble drying and bonding to the lower layer. Humidity could be a part of it, too, but I think it's just too much of a buildup of varnish.

How would I correct it?  I know you're not going to like this, but I am afraid that it's not going to correct itself by allowing it to dry some more. Plus- it will always be easy to scratch. It's almost like when you wax a car too much- after a while, there's a wax buildup that makes the shine look cloudy.

If I had this dilemma in my woodshop, here's what I would do. Strip it. Sand it. And Danish Oil is my finish of choice, Watco in particular, but there are a lot of products out there. And oil is nearly goof proof. The only way you can really screw it up is to not wipe it off completely. If you don't it sits on the wood and feels sticky. Plus- if it scratches, it's easy to repair. Put a drop of oil on it, and wet sand again. But it's a penetrating finish, so scratching in minimal, compared to a surface finish like varnish.

When oiling, it's essential that you saturate the wood, let it soak in, sand it a little in the places that feel rough (with wet/dry sandpaper) and then wipe it off. Repeat 3 times and you're done. I like to do a final coat of paste wax, as it protects even more, and makes it feel very nice.

I was lucky, when I was in college, one of my woodworking profs told me about Watco. It's basically all I've ever used. Yes, every now and then, I've had a customer request a different finish, like tung oil, or varnish or whatever. But I always tell them if they want that sort of finish, I'll send it to a professional who will do it, and they'll have to pay for it. It's a whole area of woodworking that I've chosen not to do- I don't want to buy the spray equipment, nor to I want to mess with a finish that requires a dust free environment. My woodshop is anything BUT dust free.

So there you have it- I could have checked that box and said "sorry, I can't help" and even now, I'm not sure I helped, but I gave you my opinion. I hope this helps somewhat. If you want to read about wood finishing in detail, Bob Flexner has a great book called "Understanding Wood Finishing" that goes of all sorts of finishing problems exactly like what you're experiencing. His book has been invaluable to many people, and I think it can probably give you some answers that I couldn't.

Good luck, happy stripping.   

Jamie Yocono
Wood It Is! Custom Cabinetry
Las Vegas, NV
www.wooditis.com