this post was submitted on 07 Oct 2023
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Woodworking

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Recommend finishing products to me that aren't Minwax (sh.itjust.works)
submitted 1 year ago by captain_aggravated@sh.itjust.works to c/woodworking@lemmy.ca
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Minwax has ruined enough of my projects. I'm looking for recommendations for wood finishing products, particularly stains and wiping varnishes, that actually work, are readily available on the East coast of the United States, and are not manufactured by Sherwin-Williams.

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[โ€“] Sir_Kevin@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Wood stain isn't suppose to fully dry. You're supposed to wipe it off after it makes sweet love to the wood.

[โ€“] captain_aggravated@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 year ago

The process of staining wood as it has been explained to me:

  1. Sand a lot
  2. Apply a generous coat of the stain. Just slop it right on there. Put it on thick as paint.
  3. Leave it on the surface for several minutes, Minwax likes the phrase "five to fifteen minutes." To let it soak into the wood.
  4. Wipe off whatever excess.
  5. Allow it to dry, ie allow whatever solvent that carried the pigment onto/into the wood to flash off. Minwax provides no guidance on how long this should be, just "Until fully dry."
  6. Apply some protective coating be it lacquer, varnish, urethane, shellac, epoxy, shrink wrap, whatever.

After waiting an entire day, I could still wipe stain off with a clean rag, and applying a wiping varnish took a lot of the stain back off.

Now I might be some damn fool idealist, but a coating that is specifically intended to be applied before/under another coating should survive the application of that second coating. I mean I know society doesn't actually work, but come the fuck on.