Clear Coating

More and more I'm transitioning to water-based products, even in my finishes. In the kitchen, of all rooms, I'm using General Finishes Polyacrylic, on my ebony-stained woodwork.

I first sought out water based products after a series of tests revealed the yellowing effects of the oil-based top coats. I wanted to maintain the stain color, but the amber base of the varnishes and shellacs (shellacs use a natural resin secreted by a tree beetle) overly intensified the warm accents. (Which sometimes is a desirable effect.)

The General Finishes Top Coat, looks milky but goes on clear. Fine Woodworking Magazine rated the General Finishes product, available through Rockler, best in the water based finishes brush-on category. The water based products still contain many of the same materials as oil-based products, notably urethane, alkyd, and acrylic, but some of the flammable and most polluting chemicals have been replaced by water.

Oh and another thing, the stuff hardly smells and its drying time seems shorter.