Works well, just follow directions and practice!
Written: Apr 26 '05
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Product Rating:
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Pros: All in one product
Cons: Long dry time between coats
The Bottom Line: It works!
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| redamber's Full Review: Minwax Polyshades One Step Stain & Polyurethane Pe... |
The best advice I have on this is READ and FOLLOW the directions, as I found certain steps are there for a reason and do not think you can skip any to save time, I tried.. you can't! So I am here to offer a little help for others embarking on a similar project.
I bought this product to refinish my 70's medium brown stained kitchen cabinets, in good condition just would like them to be a more modern cherry/mahogany tint to match our new Santos mahogany wood floors. I am an amateur and have never really worked with refinishing before, so a large labor intensive project to take on, you must have patience! Also you really need to PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE first before jumping in.
There is not a large range of color selection if you are attempting to change an existing brown to a red tone, as this product only really works if taking a lighter shade to a darker one to avoid completely stripping a surface. For me the only choices were Natural Cherry and Bombay Mahogany, the cherry only tinted the brown slightly, not enough to make a real difference and the Mahogany was very dark and rich but not what I was going for, so after some more research I found someone suggested mixing the two colors to achieve a lighter tint, voila! Just make sure you either keep a strict formula or mix a whole lot of it as to not run out. You have the choice between Satin and gloss, which I think could be mixed to get an alternate sheen if you so desired but I went with the gloss. So, that covers color and shine.
Now to the actual process, First off MIX the stain with a stick, the polyurethane has a tendency to settle in a goo at the bottom so you really want to keep it well mixed and repeat during the process if working for a long time.
Second, this product is designed to adhere to existing polyurethane so no extreme sanding is required if going to a darker shade. However, before you sand one VERY VERY important step in the process is to degrease the cabinets. A very time costly mistake on my first attempt. All the cabinet corners that had been touched a lot had imbedded grease build up that really needs to be removed with a product like TSP or goo gone (which is what I am using now). Clean with a product and then light soap and water and then allow to dry. The polyshade will not dry on areas that have grease build up so this step is important and will save you having to sand the cabinets all the way back down (which is what I had to do on my first test run).
Third, after the cabinets have dried sand the whole surface EVENLY (don't oversand in spots, keep color consistent) and lightly, I used a 120 grit on a black and decker mouse sander and a quick once over with steel wool then tack cloth to clean up all dust.
Now, when it comes to applying the stain you need to work fast (the stain starts to set fairly quick), keep a wet brush end, apply fast and then sweep in smooth even strokes. Let dry at least six hours preferably over night. Make sure you also use a fine steel wool grade 000 or finer in between coats and always use tack cloth before applying the stain after sanding and the steel wool. I also did all my sanding outside and all the staining in the garage to keep each area separate. You need a clean dust free area to stain as airborne dust and hair can settle into the top coat.
So important factors:
1.mix color well
2. degrease cabinets, let dry
3. Lightly sand, tack cloth to remove dust
4. apply color, wait 6 hours plus
5. steel wool, tack cloth
It takes 2-3 coats to get a good finish.
All in all the product works very well and 1/2 way into my project know I feel I have it down to a science. Just make sure you have a lot a patience, a Large, clean, low traffic, work and drying area as the project does move slow due to drying time. Just keep in mind all the money you are saving by doing it yourself. This product makes it more like painting which I knew I could do, just on an advanced level. So if you can paint you can probably use this product with some practice.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
redamber
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Reviews written: 2
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