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weedyacres

Can I use floor poly to finish a cabinet?

weedyacres
4 years ago

I've made a few shelves (utility room, closet) that I have stained and then brushed with oil-based poly and, well, I suck at it. I sand between coats, use a natural-bristle brush, etc. The finish is good enough for said shelves, but not good enough for a couple unfinished maple cabinets bound for our laundry room.


I've used Bona Traffic on a few different floors and get good (and smooth) results. And wood is wood, no? Is there any reason I can't use Bona stain and Bona poly on these cabinets?

Comments (14)

  • SJ McCarthy
    4 years ago

    Technically this is possible. But not ideal. Hardwood floor finishes (like Bona) are EXTREMELY expensive. Whereas furniture finishes are much less to purchase.


    Traditionally wood furniture needs MULTIPLE coats (their polyurethanes are 'thinner' and look much better after 5-7 coats). These coats offer the finish most of us associate with wood furniture.


    One of my favourite furniture finishes comes from Vermont Natural Coatings. Their products are lovely to work with. Very low odour and almost VOC free. Their furniture system is made to accept multiple coats...like furniture is supposed to have. And they are a MUCH CHEAPER than any Bona product on the market...and you can purchase quarts.


    https://vermontnaturalcoatings.com/


    Reach out to them. They are lovely people.

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    The amount of vinegar and water you would use with a spray bottle on a dust mop won't "break down the finish". As someone who has spent considerable time removing finishes, it might be easy if it did. Granted, soaking some shellac in vinegar might dull it a bit....but spritzing a dust mop with a bit of the solution to keep the dust down and combat any streaks plain water might leave is a good thing! The thing I object to with Bona is that people wash with it, saturate the finish....and that is never good for wood! You don't slosh a bucket of vinegar water on your floors, put a little spritzed on your dust mop will be lots better than Bona, Orange goo, Murphey's stuff or anything else you can imagine....but for perhaps mineral spirits....and nota's not a good option for weekly cleaning https://howtohardwoodfloors.com/vinegar-clean-hardwood-floors.html
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  • Aglitter
    4 years ago

    Adding my findings on this, a floor topcoat like Bona Traffic has added hardeners and slip-resistant components designed for flooring needs that cabinetry or furniture simply don't demand. As the commenter above posted, flooring topcoats are also designed to be applied on a completely horizontal surface, whereas you may be trying to paint vertically on cabinetry, so the flooring coating is extremely prone to runs. You'd have to apply a feather-light coat and be careful to not get runs to use it vertically. I've read in woodworking forums of a couple of painters using flooring topcoats on cabinetry successfully, but in all of those cases, it was sprayed with an HVLP sprayer, which you are probably not set up to do. In one of those instances, a commercial location had Bona Naturale on the floors and wanted the finish to match on the cabinetry, so the exception was made to apply Bona Naturale on the cabinets, and it turned out well using very light coats. In most cases, however, there are other finishes much more appropriate to cabinetry that could match a natural flooring finish, particularly waterborne, 2-component (2K) products from Milesi. There is a Facebook group called CABINET PAINTING & REFINISHING - DIY & Pros where one of the admins of the group who lives in Florida will sell Milesi products to anyone in the United States. His name is Christopherson Michael. The waterborne finishes are non-yellowing (unlike oil-based), and the 2-component products make for a tough coating that should last decades. Milesi is just a fantastic brand of coatings all around. When using 2K coatings, they consist of the varnish plus a hardener that when mixed produce a very quick-drying coating, so it's mandatory you use a sprayer to apply them. However, in this group some of the pros have recommended to use Milesi 2K without the hardener if you want to brush it on and say that the final effect will not be as hard and will lose some chemical resistance but will be satisfactory for non-heavy uses especially if you don't use harsh chemicals to clean the cabinetry. If you're not tied in to the best of the best in finishes, you could go with the Sherwin Williams' water white lacquer. It won't be as durable or non-yellowing as a Milesi 2K waterborne, but it won't be as yellow as some of the other coatings you could get, and it's a popular cabinetry finish for pros out there. I'm researching a couple of of non-standard finishing options for cherry wood cabinetry including 100% tung oil (requires about 5 coats with sanding in between) and Epifanes spar varnish (requires about 8 coats with sanding in between). Both those final two options will produce an orange tint which would be fine on cherry but wouldn't look good on your maple. My application is in a very humid environment where I expect to have a lot of wood movement, so those final two will help avoid the cracking situation you would get from a harder finish.

  • User
    4 years ago
    last modified: 4 years ago

    You need a cabinet grade finish, and a standard Minwax type poly is the worst choice of any to apply or to deal with long term. A Italian 2K waterborne poly is the best choice. Available from your local pro cabinet supplier. 2nd choice would be SW Pro store available Sayerlack Hydroplus Waterborne Clear.

  • PRO
    G & S Floor Service
    4 years ago

    If, you can get the finish to dry fast enough. You can have a successful coating. It has to be super hot and windy.

  • weedyacres
    Original Author
    4 years ago

    Thanks everyone for the education. Looks like I need to check out one of the recommended water-based poly's. Minwax poly has been my nemesis.

  • Aglitter
    4 years ago

    @weedyacres Milesi, ICA, and Ilva are all Italian coatings companies and offer excellent waterborne finishes, both colored, opaque paints and clear topcoats. You'll probably have the easiest time finding Milesi as a DIY painter with the Facebook link and tip I listed above.

  • weedyacres
    Original Author
    4 years ago

    I joined that fb group, but Christopherson said he's having supply issues with Milesi right now, so not taking orders. Dang Covid!

  • SJ McCarthy
    4 years ago

    Have you reached out to Vermont Natural Coatings? Their products have continuous supply because they make many of their products from cheese whey. Vermont has cows. Vermont Natural Coatings always has supply.

  • weedyacres
    Original Author
    4 years ago

    Vermont will cost me $100/gallon delivered for the PolyWhey furniture finish. Perhaps Milesi is in the same ballpark, I wasn't able to find any price clues through google.

    Can Vermont go over Minwax stain?

  • Aglitter
    4 years ago
    last modified: 4 years ago

    @weedyacres Some reviewers say that Vermont Natural Coatings products have a propensity to peel off after application. There may be some application method that would help prevent this, including a lot of sanding between layers and maybe thinning out the intial coats, but I don't know if that would solve this problem for you. Also, it's fairly well known among users that this product imparts a yellowish hue. You might consider ordering a smaller amount to test it. The Milesi waterborne coating would be low-VOC, clear, and non-yellowing.

  • SJ McCarthy
    4 years ago
    last modified: 4 years ago

    Ask VNC. They will know what their products can go over and what they can't. VNC also produce their own stain line. I know most of it is for outdoor use but I believe there are indoor stains as well.

    The failures of VNC is due to improper use. The BINDER for the product is 'whey' (yes...as in 'curds and whey'). It is a biological product made from the water removed from the cheese making process. These proteins are then used to create polyurethane.

    Polywhey products MUST BE STIRRED for 5-10 MINUTES!!!!!! This stirring creates the proper mixture of 'finish' (the liquidy stuff on top) and the BINDER (the thick gluey stuff on the bottom of the tin). Failure to PROPERLY mix the causes failure.

    When mixed properly (do NOT SHAKE!!!! No shaking - stirring only) the product is amazingly good. And NEVER water down a product that is not SPECIFICALLY allowed to be water down.

    Please contact VNC to find out which stain lines are best. Minwax may not be a good idea (oil based stain being coated by a water based polyuthane). DuraSeal might be a better option because they carry a line of water based stains.

    Always check with the finish manufacturer.

  • weedyacres
    Original Author
    4 years ago

    VNC is only communicating via email and voice mail, but I got an answer back that's it's ok over anything.

    Our local SW doesn't carry the Sayerlack, which is an Italian poly. I have to buy it from a store an hour and a half away.

    So I opted to fork over $100 for a can of the Vermont poly, since it's the only of the above recommendations I can easily get. We'll see how it all works out.

  • PRO
    Cabinet Hero Inc.
    last year

    Bona finishes when applied correctly can provide a specific look and also provide a very strong finish

    Flooring finishes can be challenging to be applied on the vertical area as stated above but I believe it is worth the effort. It is def a proven product , I have personally used this product and

    believe since the flooring industry requires the strongest most durable coatings, for this reason you can be sure that the product is very durable. Not to mention it is one of the main

    guidelines for stain selection among cabinets these days . The flooring industry is indirectly affecting the direction of finish tones and styles for the cabinetry industry. . So why not use a system that is in that family /water base stains! and floor finish top coat like Bona!

    Can't beat them , join them I say!