After this week's discussion about tack rags and dust cloths, I decided to do a test this weekend with one of the "high tech" dust rags currently being sold and woodworking finishes.
Meet the players:
The dust cloths: Fort James 29600 "Dust-N-Clean" yellow microfiber cloths. (50) 12x17 cloths are ~ $7 at a local janitorial supply house. Fort James says these are "Coated for superior performance." They don't specify the coating, hence the test.
(4) oak plywood panels
** My favorite barrier - Zinnser Sealcoat ** One of my favorite waterborne lacquers - M.L. Campbell Ultrastar Sanding Sealer and M.L. Campbell Ultrastar Satin top coat ** Deft gloss solvent lacquer in a spray bomb. Lacquer is affected by lots of chemicals and HATES silicone, this is more of a control mainly to check for silicone.Each panel was sanded to 180 grit with a ROS and rubbed as clean as possible with a new Dust-N-Clean.
So far, I've applied full-strength Sealcoat to one panel with a foam brush, sprayed another panel with Ultrastar Sanding Sealer with a Critter, and sprayed another with boxed coats of Deft from the spray bomb. The last panel was left alone, as it will get three coats of Ultrastar without any sanding sealer.
After the Sealcoat, US SS, and Deft initial coat, there are no signs of fish eye or any weirdness on any of the treated panels. This is good!
Tomorrow morning, I'll add one coat of Ultrastar to three of the boards, and another coat of Deft to the forth. Tomorrow afternoon, I'll scuff them all with 400, dust them again with the Dust-N-Clean, and spray the final coats.
The Dust-N-Clean cloths are cheap and work GREAT cleaning the car and the house. If they work under finishes, especially the finishes that don't tolerate oiled tack rags, they may possibly become an excellent shop tool.