Fixing Shiny "Satin" Minwax Varnish!!!!!

I'm using Minwax satin polyurethane varnish to go over some 15 year old wood moldings that looked completely flat. I wanted statin (i.e. no shine)! However, after applying the varnish and drying time, it turned out WAY too shiny!!

  1. What an I doing wrong?

  1. Is there any way to dull the shine?

Reply to
Jim
Loading thread data ...

Did you stir the varnish? The flatteners that make the kill the gloss are additives. If you don't stir well, you'll get a shinier finish than advertised. Just apply another coat once you've verified that it's the satin you want.

They do that a lot with floors. Put one satin coat on top of a gloss coat - supposedly it makes a more durable finish.

R
Reply to
RicodJour

  1. Didn't do a test piece first (apparently). That is always a particularly when you're using a material/process you've not previously used.

You can try Rico's suggestion but probably won't be the answer. There are flatting agents that can be added (you'll need a good paint/finish supply to find it, though, most likely) or you can simply buff w/ a steel wool or pumice to accomplish similar objective. Again, finish a test piece and experiment first.

Reply to
Duane Bozarth

As others said, likely you didn't stir enough to mix the flatteners in, so stir and apply another coat. Or, if you go the buff out route, use 000 or 0000 steel wool to dull it. FWIW, I usually use gloss varnish and dull it with steel wool as I feel that gives a deeper, hand rubbed, looked to the finish than either semi-gloss or satin varnish.

Reply to
Luke

Minwax's satin is almost a semi-gloss. You can try another brand like Carver-Tripp or Parks. One of those brands, and I don't remember which, has a semi-gloss that is less glossy than MW.

Lightly sand the current coat and put the new brand over it.

Reply to
Buck Turgidson

Reply to
Dean Swinger

Not mixed well enough? If the entire surface can be reached (no corners or grooves), fine steel wool will dull it. I would try another coat, very well mixed or from a new can, to test the sheen.

Reply to
Norminn

uh, satin has a sheen to it.

Reply to
Hopkins

What I normally do is put on a coat of gloss (which is more or less pure polyurethane varnish (consult Flexnor for the pedantic version) and make my last coat the desired sheen.

Varnish sheen is achieved by putting "flatting agents" -- often talc -- which is the powderry stuff you stirred up.

Assuming you stirred thoroughly, you might look at "Flat" or another coat of "Satin".

You can also try buffing it with some steel wool.

As always, make yourself a few finish samples out of similar offcuts.

If you don't experiment on scrap, you're experimenting on your project, and poly is difficult to undo.

Reply to
Charles Krug

replying to Jim, Tim wrote: That happened to me too. Hate how it turned out. I used espresso satin and it looks very glossy and not the color that looks like the sample. Hate it.

Reply to
Tim

HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.