Those are not bubbles. It's small dust particles trapped under the finish.

What is your cleaning method? What type of vac? What type of applicators? Post pics of items.

Silverline, if those are really bubbles, the product might have been frozen in the past. Check the date. Where did you buy it?

Thanks everyone. I did run across some information after I posted about this possibly being dust, so appreciate the confirmation. Am traveling today but will post more pictures later. I just used a house vacuum followed by damp microfiber rags to clean after sanding. I wiped down everything 4 times for the top coat. Maybe my rags needed to be wetter? I was afraid an actual sticky tack cloth would leave residue, but the finish coat still had a lot of irregularities. They smothed out a lot over a couple of hours after application so it's not horrible, but I have a couple of dozen doors and drawer fronts left to coat so need a new plan for cleaning. I bought my coatings from @City Floor Supply and did double-check with them that the product was fresh since there was no date listed on the bottles. They said they only recently started carrying Loba and that they rotate stock frequently, so I was assuming the product had not been frozen but who really knows for sure? Any suggestions for how to clean better for my upcoming pieces?

Have you thoroughly cleaned the room in which you’re working? Is the HVAC running? What are you wearing when you‘re working? It’s amazing how much “stuff” there is in the air that can ruin an otherwise perfect finish.

The house vac does not have enough suction. You need at least 90 cfm. Over 100 is better. If, the vac is not removing 99% of the dust. Tacking will be useless.

Clean out the filter and empty out the bag For better suction. The filter may need replacing or needs to be cleaned more often depending on the size.

Thank you all. I will be able to use compressed air for most of my remaining pieces and blow off outdoors, but I will also look into purchasing a more powerful vacuum over 100 CFM, so thanks for the insight. I am sure compressed air would exceed 90 CFM wind force, but it wouldn't be suction, just blowing motion. I am painting indoors with rooms draped off with plastic sheeting. Because of the isocyanates in the 2K, I have ventilation with open windows with air conditioner filters taped up over the windows that feed into the draped-off rooms. I am not running any fans in an effort to try to keep dust down. The house HVAC is on, but I also have fresh air coming through the filtered windows, and the house air vents don't blow into my draped-off rooms. I have a lint-free outfit for painting made of low-static fabric which I have washed between every paint coat and worn only for my final dusting and then painting. I have changed clothes frequently between the sanding and dusting phases to keep dust down. I have vacuumed the floor repeatedly and changed floor plastic draping after every sanding. I looked into buying an air scrubber, but the cost didn't seem worth it for just this one project, but now I wish I had sprung for it anyway. I was thinking of running a humidifier in my clean rooms to take down some dust before final wipe down, but I was afraid the extra moisture wouldn't be good for the unprotected wood. I have flicked out, washed, and thoroughly dried all the brushes I used before application. The roller covers I used didn't respond well to pre-washing, so I used packing tape to get any lint off before using, though they were actually quite clean out of the bag. That's why it is so distressing to have had this problem, because I worked hard on dust control measures. I tested actual sticky tack cloths and packing tape but found they left residue so went with only the microfiber towels which were brand new and thoroughly washed, dried, and shaken out before use. The clean microfiber towels are stored in a dust-free, sealed bag while awaiting use. I think the problem may indeed be I am not getting enough dust off the surface itself before coating. The bubbles are showing up immediately as soon as the coating is laid down. Thanks everyone for your help! I will give your suggestions a try and look for a better vacuum right away. Thanks!

Those definitely look like dust particles. Vacuum then wipe with a lint free cloth using CleanWood then use a tack cloth. Sand with 220 grit sandpaper between coats and repeat the cleaning process.

I know that some products (even Loba) can work well with extensive stirring. It might be worth a 'test batch' on a piece of wood (nothing special...just some extra wood laying around) with the brush (rollers work well on floors...the wrong nap can have disastrous results regardless of the surface being coated).

When I sold Loba, I always suggested the LOWEST nap mircofibre possible. But that is causing bubbles/trapped particles.

Try STIRRING your batch. You can shake your base (the big container). That way you know the particles are well distributed. Then pour out the amount you need for the job. You can let it settle for a few minutes. No worries. Then shake (or not) the hardener and add to the batch.

Now you take a stir stick and simply stir the product. I would be gentle but continuous maybe a minute...nothing more should be needed. Test the batch out over the wood. See if stirring small batches gets you a better result.

Remember to stir the pot every 5 minutes or so to ensure the ceramic particles remain suspended (so they don't settle).

Your situation demands a gentle touch. Loba can be gently used. Just give things a bit of time to settle down once they are shaken. Leave the two parts SEPARATED while they are calming down. Once they are added together you use the gentle stirring motion to keep things well disbursed/suspended/mixed WITHOUT causing bubbles.

@SJ McCarthy Thanks for those answers. The Loba rep wasn't able to provide that information for me about shake and sit times, so I truly appreciate your filling in the gaps here. I do believe that the product was over-shaken at one point since I saw bubbles in the solution for the first 30 minutes or so during the time I was applying the coating. Now that we've discussed my dust removal failure, I'm not sure if it was really the bubbles from the coating showing up or the dust. I'll try to modify all my techniques for the next round.

Separating was an issue for me too, at one point. I appreciate the advice on stirring and mixing every 5 minutes, and I can definitely see the benefit to the every-five-minute idea. On a subsequent coating, trying to combat bubbles, when I allowed the product to rest after shaking--both after the individual containers were shaken and then after the combination was shaken--I could see the coating separating to the extent that the top part looked watery and the whiter, thicker part was lower down in my pail. I started tilting my pail instinctively to grab solution from lower down. The answer is probably somewhere in the middle as far as what I did early in shaking too much and then later in letting it rest too long. I did read another resource somewhere that advised that shaking is truly the best way to combine 2K products and that stirring is tricky to get those chemicals colliding. The de-foaming agents in the Loba are quite good, so I think perhaps if I shake extremely well the individual containers and then let them rest, then combine the two with 30 seconds of shaking and then let sit for 5 minutes, it might work. I'll come back with an update on how it went. I'll be able to see visually if the bubbles have subsided before I start to apply.

Thanks again for everything @SJ McCarthy! I've gleaned so much from all your comments on the quality and wear properties of Loba's 2K Supra AT in various threads at Houzz, and it's because of you that I'm using this coating at present. The coating smoothed out even further overnight after I took the photos in my original post, and I think that if I can get the remaining pieces more dust-free that this will be a fabulous, durable coating for the cabinetry. The pieces already done don't look bad. You have to get up really close in the right angle and light to see imperfections. Overall, I'm very impressed with the Loba performance and am excited about its potential durability compared to anything else I could have used.

@moosemac Thanks for the advice. I looked into Cleanwoode, and it's solvent-based, so perhaps not the best for the waterborne products I'm using. This is also new wood, so it might work better for me on another project where I had coatings to remove and residue to clean off. As suggested by @G & S Floor Service, I found a shop vac I have already with 143 CFM and am regretful I didn't think to use it earlier. I'm also thinking of using some clean release blue tape for a round of tacking after vacuuming. The packing tape and other tack cloths I have tested thus far all left residue on my wood. I'll be prepping the raw wood with 220 since it is cherry (220 is too fine for some of the harder woods like oak, hickory, and hard maple). Then I'll be using 180 grit between coatings as recommended by the manufacturer. As mentioned earlier, I also do have microfiber cloths to use for the final wiping. I'll update everyone with the progress on the next batch. Thanks to everyone for all the help! Houzz is great!

These water base floor finishes are designed to be poured onto a surface not dipped with a brush. Pouring prevents the separating or settling of the ingredients.

The photo of coated wood that I showed above was taken at night in low lighting. Here are a few more photos to show the same area in daylight, on unstained American Black Cherry wood with a completed system of Loba WS EasyPrime plus 3 top coats of Loba 2K Supra AT in semi-gloss:

Silverline, I think you are doing really good job, good luck finishing your project.

Silverline, how did your doors turn out? Would you be willing to personally speak to me regarding the process? Just super nervous!

@Chelsea Ivers I have only done door panels on sides of boxes, and they turned out reasonably well, but I am still having problems perfecting my finishing method. The doors and drawer fronts will be the next things I tackle.

My latest issue is pock marks, otherwise known as fisheyes, that I think are appearing due to excessive humidity. I have created an enclosed painting booth that tends to trap vapor as it evaporates from the coating, and during a rainy week here where I live, I could not control the pock marks appearing in all layers of Loba 2K Supra AT even with opening a couple of windows that adjoin the booth. The WS EasyPrime did not have this issue, but again, that was the first layer, and successive coats in the 4-coat system released more humidity into the air. Other things can cause fisheyes like excessively thick coats or improper temperatures of the air and substrates, but I believe in my case it is humidity and will be trying to address this going forward with a robust dehumidifier inside the painting booth.

I would be happy to personally speak to you about the process, but it would really be better if you started your own thread and posted questions there so that everyone searching for Loba application information in the future could benefit. Alternately, I just switched my settings over to allow you to be able to message me privately, but if I don't hear from you, I'll be switching that back off by the end of January 2021.

You should be nervous, actually! This is a terrible coating to apply on cabinetry, and I highly encourage you to select a different finish! I'm in the middle of a project so already committed, but many times during the 16 coats I have already done with 6 to 8 hours of prep for each coat (with the exception of the hot coat of Supra 1 hour after primer) and at least half of the work left to go for a small kitchen, I have regretted ever signing up for this monumental task. If you haven't read my other thread on Loba for cabinetry and followed the links within the posts there, it would be of benefit to you: https://www.houzz.com/discussions/5927222/loba-2k-supra-a-t-coating-questions#n=26

If you haven't yet purchased your Loba products, please visit the Envirolak website and check out their clear coat finishes. Envirolak would be much more suited to a cabinetry application. Envirolak is based in Canada and is gaining a solid reputation for robust, one-part waterborne coatings, including clear coats, that are created to be brushed and rolled on. If you don't have a dealer near you, you may contact Envirolak directly, and they'll be able to work with you to get their products. This would be the next-best thing in durability to a catalyzed 2K (two-part) finish such as the Loba 2K Supra A.T. Another alternative would be General Finishes. They do some beautiful one-part waterborne clear coats that are probably not as resilient as Envirolak's but are easy to apply with brush and roller, and many people who have posted in the Houzz forum have used General Finishes to satisfactorily coat their cabinetry projects. Here is one thread with more information about that: https://www.houzz.com/discussions/5633128/most-natural-matte-satin-finish-white-oak-cabinets#n=33

One of the first problems you will encounter with Loba 2K Supra A.T., or indeed any of Loba's 2K coatings, is that they begin to set up at lightning speed. You must lay the coating down and walk off and leave it within no more than 10 minutes per piece, and really more like 3 minutes per each section of each piece. The learning curve is steep, and I'm still having problems getting my coating to lay down without brush marks as the quick drying occurs.

Another problem you will encounter with Loba's products is that they are formulated with no vertical hang properties. All the leveling properties are horizontally self-leveling. So, any time you have something other than a perfectly flat surface, the Loba coating will drip, run, or puddle. I have created a complex system of taping off low-lying areas, then wiping the puddles with a microfiber cloth, then removing the tape with care not to drip onto finished sections, then painting the previously taped areas, then sponging off more puddles, then wiping out more puddles with craft swabs. This all happens within seconds as I move quickly with no wasted motion as the coating is already flash drying in surrounding areas. The process is difficult, stressful, and not entirely successful as I have many surface blemishes throughout the project thus far. I have had to coat each plane separately using several rounds of Frog Tape with plastic draping to mask off non-working sides.

Please, if you have any other options, go with the other options. The best thing would be to order prefinished cabinetry or to have a professional spray the project with Milesi or Renner. You may learn more about professional spraying options at this group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/diycabinetrefinishing

The Loba 2K Supra A.T. with a 4-coat system including WS EasyPrime primer as the first coat is basically impervious. You'll never be able to refinish your cabinetry pieces unless they are flat surfaces that can be mechanically sanded. It's that tough. You may even have a hard time hand sanding between layers prior to full cure due to the incredible resilience. It's like dipping everything in plastic. The finish is beautiful, but I think in most cases that the durability is overkill for cabinetry. Loba's 2K products are designed to last 20 years on a flooring surface that you walk on during those decades. The Envirolak or General Finishes one-part waterborne products should give you plenty of years of wear without the headache of dealing with 2K application concerns. I hope this is helpful to you. If you would like to start a new thread with your own project and photos, please be sure to link it back here so we can follow and comment on your new thread.

Silverline, you’re very resilient man. You have my full admiration. Can’t you finish your project with General Finishes at this point?

@David Valasek somehow I missed your comment last year, but I did end up incorporating a water-based spraypaint for some of the edges that would be unseen when the cabinetry is closed. Otherwise, nothing else would match the previously completed pieces from a front view. I desperately wish I had ordered pre-finished cabinetry because the coating process has been so difficult and time consuming, but it is what it is.