Polishing Polyurethane Table

4 steps to a perfect polyurethane finish.

Polishing polyurethane table. Prepare your workpiece a glass smooth finish begins with a level. Enjoy the videos and music you love upload original content and share it all with friends family and the world on youtube. Four regular coats of urethane applied one over the other is a good starting point. Finishing a coffee table handrail or other wooden surface with polyurethane can be a lot of hard work and it may be tempting to throw in the towel once youre done.

However there are a few things you can do. Using a soft cotton rag or polishing pad buff the finish to a high shine using automotive paste wax photo below which has fine abrasives that polish the finish even further. If you exclude professional finishes such as catalyzed lacquer or urethane polyurethane is probably the toughest finish you can find. With polyurethane sanding or polishing too long in one area can cut through the outer topcoat to the layer below and create a ring.

Water based polyurethane finishes have low vocs and dry within an hour or two but they can look plasticky if applied too thick or in haste. I need to polish to top of this oak slab coffee table. Start with a thick coating. Unless youre using water based polyurethane.

For the table finish i chose a product called ceramithane that i had used in the past on their nursery furniture. Next im going to wet sand the top. After it cures sand as before and resume polishing. If that happens clean the workpiece thoroughly with mineral spirits scuff sand it with 320 grit abrasive and apply a full strength topcoat.

I have already applied about 15 coats of polyurethane to the top and let it cure until i cannot smell it. Repeat the polishing process whenever the polyurethane begins to lose its gloss from use taking care not to sand through the coating entirely and removing its protective properties. How to polish polyurethane. Polishing out polyurethane hand rubbing a polyurethane finish with fine sandpaper or pumice can overcome polys plastic or removed look and bring back some of the woods natural tone.

It has held up well because it is essentially a water based gym floor finish that can be sprayed. Thats not to say you should apply each coat thickly. However it does tend to orange peel a bit and therefore required wet sanding and polishing for my kitchen table project.