Sharing my experience with Waterlox Satin vrs. Original

12 years ago

Hi All,

Just wanted to share my experience with Waterlox because I know there are several of you out there who are researching it to use on your wood top. To make a looooong story short-I ordered a DIY black walnut top for my kitchen island from Craft Art. My original plan was to finish it in mineral oil because I wanted it to look natural/no shine. When I realized the mineral oil finish would not work for me I decided to go with a mix of Waterlox satin and original. After much research here I learned that this would give the top a "soft glow" and not be too shiney. The directions were to start with about three coats of the original, followed by the mix for the last coat. The original went on with no problems, easy as can be. Then I applied the mix and when it dried there were obvious brush marks that did not look good. I sanded and reapplied two more times trying different types of applicators (natural bristle brush, paint pad and t-shirt). Each time I was unhappy with the finish because it had obvious brush/pad strokes and did not look smooth. I decided to try the original by itself once more, just to see if I could live with the shine. At first I did not like the shine at all, but now that I've lived with it a over a week, it has really grown on me. I had a big family party here the other night and everyone said it looks beautiful and to keep it the way it is. The shine really brings out the grain of the wood. The satin mix kind of dulled it. In the end I am happy with the shine of the original and will keep it for now. Who knows, I may get up the energy someday to try the satin mix again...The satin was beautiful but just sooo difficult to work with... In the end I am not disappointed in how it turned out. I am satisfied with the original and think it looks beautiful too, just in a different way. I am really enjoying looking at my wood top every day! It's sooo pretty!!! Hope my experience helps someone!

Jill

Cape Girl- if you happen to read this I'm glad we BOTH ended up loving the our wood tops! :)

Jill

Featured Answer

Circus Peanut

12 years ago

Jill,
if you're up for it, after it's cured for a few weeks you can do the process known as "rubbing out the finish" - it's a matter of using very fine steel wool or pumice and wax to polish it out to a nice glow rather than the shiny brushed finish. I did this with Waterlox Original on my walnut coffee table (nobody carries the satin around here for some reason) and it's an extraordinary finish, you can't stop touching it. Takes patience and some knowledge of finishing, though, and I'm not sure it's entirely worth it on a countertop that will see a lot of use. But if the gloss sheen is still bugging you in a month, it's always an option.

Here is a link that might be useful: how to rub out a wood finish

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Comments (9)

nini804
12 years ago
Oh, do post a pic! Our walnut top is oil finished, but I am considering changing to Waterlox. I talked to our fabricator, and they said they would do a satin finish, but since they are located so far away, they could come and prepare the top and do the first coat...but since it needs 5 coats with 8 hours between each coat it wasn't cost effective to do all the coats. They said they would show us how to do it. Your post has scared me, though! It sounds hard!
kateskouros
12 years ago
our walnut floors are finished with waterlox. there is no way to describe how insanely beautiful they are. i will never forgive myself for putting poly on the floors of our last house!
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Oh, your living conditions sound exactly like mine!! We live in the country with lots of dirt and sand. We don't have a "shoe-free" house and we have 3 indoor/outdoor dogs, one of which weighs 70 pounds. I installed quartersawn white oak floors, sanded them myself with a U-sand and finished them with the medium gloss Waterlox (I think it's the original finish). The Usand is really really easy to use and catches almost all of the sawdust. But it also is VERY slow going. My floors were almost perfect prior to sanding and it still took forever. Things that needed to be sanded off (mfg grading marks and some machine marks) were nearly impossible to sand off. I did save a bunch of money, but I honestly do think when I get ready to install the flooring in the master bedroom, I will hire some pro's to sand it. DIY waterlox, on the other hand, was a very positive experience. It is very easy to apply and the finish is gorgeous. It scratches....but no worse than any other finish and the scratches are easy to touch up. When applying it, use a vapor respirator. You can get one made for paint fumes at lowes for around $25. It blocked all the odor. When I did my floors, money was really tight and hiring a sanding crew was out of the question. That's the main reason I used the U-sand. I don't regret it, but I know a pro could have gottem me a lot nicer job. Since you have 1/16" of wood to remove, I honestly think you may be better off getting a crew to come in and sand. A U-sand uses four orbital pads. The pros will use a big drum sander. If you have never used a drum sander I'll warn you....you can destroy your floors really quickly with them. It's not something that I would ever try doing, and I'll tackle almost anything! Cindy
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I sure don't have the same view as Growlery. We have spot repaired where the dog scratched a portion of the trim on our stairway. If you put a poly finish on in one small spot to repair, you'd see the difference, we don't see that with the Waterlox. My dh is a long-time woodworker and woodshop instructor, and is so impressed with the Waterlox. I expect any finish to smell and as much of it as I applied, I never found it particularly or any more bothersome. I HATE the smell of fresh lacquer and didn't have that same problem with the Waterlox...But the odor tolerance is different for different people. I did 2 coats of the Original on all of our woodwork, then 2 coats of Satin on the doors and trim, but about 5-7 coats on the island top. For everything, I brushed on the first 3 coats, and hand rubbed the rest, doing very light sanding in between most, but before the hand-rubbed, I was more thorough. You can see the sheen on our cabinet doors here. Doesn't seem plasticky to me at all in appearance or feel. The island has a heavier finish so is a little shinier. I blame that on myself, because a past forum member (Mondragon) did his table with Waterlox, and also did several coats, and had a wonderful hand-rubbed-looking finish. (link below) I think I got in too big a hurry. In my photo you can see the difference between the Waterlox on the cabinets and the glossier lacquer finish on the trim on the display shelf. Thankfully, it's not as noticeable in person, because it looks awful in this picture to have them next to each other! Here is a link that might be useful: Mondragon's table
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Your door looks incredible! I spent two weekends of my life fiddling around with various finishes and techniques to get new poplar to match the original in my house, and while I'm proud of my results, I see I have barely scratched the surface. Thank you for the tip about the Bartley's. I will definitely try it. Does the Bartley's give a slight yellowing to the color tone the way polyurethane does? Because if you look in my first picture, you'll see that the molding framing the door has a yellowish cast when compared to the door itself. I was counting on my last clear coat to impart a bit of yellow to bring it all together, but if the Bartley's is really clear, perhaps I should do something else first. I'm curious because in your picture it looks like you used the varnish for the exterior side of the door as well. I've been looking for something to finish the front door of my house, which is in an enclosed front porch, but still, the exterior side is subjected to temperature and humidity extremes that might not be compatible with some interior finishes. Do you think the Bartley's would work in that setting as well? Thank you, again, from steering me clear of a disaster. I am looking forward to trying waterlox on bare wood, but you are right, a penetrating finish over sealer would be challenging. The more I learn, the more I realize I need to learn... :-)
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desert_gal_nv
12 years ago
Jill,
you really need to show us the pics. I've been following your progress with interest because I'm planning to use waterlox on the mahogany countertops that are planned for our kitchen-to-be. I intended to use the satin but it sounds really really tricky so it sounds like a better idea to stick with the original finish and then 'rub it out" later.
jillandmatt
Original Author
12 years ago
circuspeanut- thank you for the info! I have not heard of this process before. I just read the article and it sounds like something I could do. Am I understanding correctly that I would need to sand the top first, before rubbing in the wax. Also, I wonder if I tried it and I ended up not liking the finish, could I just reapply another coat of waterlox and get back to the finish I have now. Just wondering if there's any risk involved. Thanks again!
desert gal- Yes, I meant to post a pic. I will get take a new one tonight and post it.
MIssyV
12 years ago
THANK YOU JILL !! I know you have been bombarded with questions, as we all try to figure out how to finish our own wood tops. Thanks for being a guinea pig for us :)

I am crossing my fingers that the guy making my top will agree to apply waterlox to it for me, keeping me from the struggles you have faced. I will know tomorrow when we meet again. He has mahogany on hand, so if I like the color/look, that will be our top. Walnut was my first choice, after seeing so many beautiful walnut tops on here, but he is selling it to me at a fantastic price, so hoping I like the mahogany :)

Thanks again Jill ! We all await another picture of your beautiful kitchen.....
Circus Peanut
12 years ago
Waterlox gives walnut and mahogany such a mice deep rich tone - of course, in fairness, this is true for any oil-based finish. Pratt & Lambert's 38 varnish is another good oil-based finish to use for this, and frankly I find it easier to use, faster to cure and far less smelly than Waterlox.

Jill, you don't actually sand the top, you rub it with good quality #0000 steel wool using wax to lubricate the wool as you go. The wax keeps it from cutting too deeply into the finish. Alternately you can use pumice or pre-made rubbing compound, you can get all this at a woodworking store or online at Rockler (but not at the big box stores). When you've gotten to the level of sheen you want, you wipe off all the extra gunk, let it dry, then either give it a final waxing or leave it as is.

Yes, if you hate the results, you can use mineral spirits or denatured alcohol (less smelly!) to remove all traces of the wax, then give it another coat of the Waterlox. I had to do this twice on my coffee table while I was learning and I rubbed too hard and went through the final coat, ugh.

It's really hard to capture the walnut color correctly (it's not this streaky in real life and it's reflecting the orange sofa), but here's my table with a rubbed out Waterlox Original finish - my dad made it from raw rustic walnut planed down, so it began just like your countertops:
chiefneil
12 years ago
I'm glad circuspeanut linked that info about rubbing out a finish. That's how I finish the furniture I make for myself when I want a satin look. Nothing beats the look and feel of a piece of hand-rubbed and waxed wood.
jillandmatt
Original Author
12 years ago
Circuspeanut- thanks again for the info and for posting the picture! The wood on your table looks beautiful! I might just try this in a couple of weeks. We have a Woodcrafters store in my town and some knowledgeable sales people there who I bet could help me get the exact process down. Thanks again for the idea!
Missy- I'm hope you can get them to finish it for you!!!! LOL! Can't wait to see the pics! I will post a pic tomorrow... long day!
chiefneil-thanks for sharing! Any advice?
Jill :)

Sharing my experience with Waterlox Satin vrs. Original

Circus Peanut

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Sharing my experience with Waterlox Satin vrs. Original

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