Wiping Off a Wipe-On Poly

I noticed today that my can of wipe on poly doesn't include a step of wiping it off. I also watched a youtube video of someone doing this same thing. Just leaving it on to dry.

I'm hesitant to do this... I don't really like putting anything onto a piece of furniture, much less a the top of one, where a poly is most useful, without wiping it off and sort of buffing it with a rag. I usually wipe it on, maybe wait one or two minutes, and then wipe the excess just like I would an oil finish (which I typically have several coats of on before the poly).

Anyone care to comment on this? Are people out there wiping on a wipe-on poly and just leaving it on the piece to dry? Does it create streaks? What are your procedures otherwise?

Thanks for any feedback.

Cheers,
Luke

I wipe on with the aim of not going over the same section twice. Though mostly I do go over the same section twice, but it will be within 5secs of the first pass. It levels itself nicely. It doesnt streak for me. I use a new french polishing type pad to apply.

Coincidentally I've been playing around with wipe on poly over the past couple of days.

I bought an old Stanley No.4 1/2 from a guy on Gumtree. He had quite a few of them and the one he sold me was "apparently" over 100 years old. He'd done some restoration on it but the one thing I didn't like was what he'd painted everything with - it looks remarkably like Sikkens Cetol Deck. So both the tote and the knob looked "brown" (along with all the metal). And to make matters worse he'd done a pretty crook job of it.

So yesterday I bit the bullet and took it apart and sanded everything back. Surprise, surprise, under the brown coating was rosewood!

Now we get to the wipe on poly part :). Several months ago I went to Masters when they were shutting down and bought (mistakenly) some gloss wipe on poly. I would normally never use gloss. But because it was there I got it out to use on the wooden pieces from the plane. As the handle in particular is an awkward shape I wondered about how I should apply the finish. In the end I used a small paintbrush (like an artist would use) and applied it and then just left it to dry. I'm amazed at the finish that's resulted. It looks like it's been sprayed on!

So I guess the answer to your question (from my recent experience) is that perhaps it doesn't matter?

This is after one coat. I'm about to give it a second...

Attachment 413893

Yeah, that's not bad... I've been using it on table tops. We'll see how it ages I guess.

By the way, you should check out this page:

Plane Dating Flowchart 1-20

It's a flow chart that will date your plane. It looks like it has the potential to be an older one like he says.

Cheers,
Luke

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Luke Maddux

I noticed today that my can of wipe on poly doesn't include a step of wiping it off. I also watched a youtube video of someone doing this same thing. Just leaving it on to dry.

I'm hesitant to do this... I don't really like putting anything onto a piece of furniture, much less a the top of one, where a poly is most useful, without wiping it off and sort of buffing it with a rag. I usually wipe it on, maybe wait one or two minutes, and then wipe the excess just like I would an oil finish (which I typically have several coats of on before the poly).

Anyone care to comment on this? Are people out there wiping on a wipe-on poly and just leaving it on the piece to dry? Does it create streaks? What are your procedures otherwise?

Thanks for any feedback.

Cheers,
Luke

---

Hi Luke

My recent experience is with General Finishes water-based poly. This dries quickly, so no hanging around. Basically, I wipe it on and wipe it off .... almost polish it off as soon as possible.

I wrote up a pictorial here: http://www.inthewoodshop.com/Furnitu...20Rebuild.html

I assume that you want to use this on furniture. On the kitchen doors I ended with 5 coats, rubbing down between coats with grey mesh (400 grit). Each was very thin, and it was not until the 2nd or 3rd coat that you could see it building up. For furniture that is as much as I would want.

http://www.inthewoodshop.com/Furnitu...l_54e32e69.jpg

Regards from Perth

Derek

Hi Luke,
I totally agree with Derek. The microfibre cloth is the key I believe. I did a bed-end using F/W Floorseal Oil and the finish was super- thin and as smooth as glass (no nibs).
Regards,
Ross

Ok, well that affirms that some other people are wiping off. I'm glad I wasn't totally blowing it.

My goal with it is just to provide some spill protection. I've been doing a coat of it on everything, and then more as needed on the top. Usually two coats, but I'm using three on the table I'm finishing now. I don't really want it to build, per se. After two coats of a nice oil, I don't even really want to know it's there, I just want to take appropriate steps to avoid refinishing it in the next decade.