We polish the varnish with our own hands

DIY polishing - preparatory stage and process features

Varnishing is often used to protect wood surfaces as well as to make them look attractive. Although the applied lacquer layer is shiny, the wood fluffs, which are smoothed during sanding, often rise up during varnishing, which negatively affects the appearance of the wood.

Although such a surface is shiny, it will look uneven. What can you do to make the varnished product look like a mirror surface?

Another fairly effective way is to polish the varnish, and this procedure can be easily done at home with your own hands.

General information

Methods

There are several ways how you can make a surface out of wood perfectly mirrored and shiny:

• Cover it with wax.

• Apply varnish solution.
• Will polish the lacquer layer.

Below we take a closer look at each process.

Preparatory stage for the base

Before starting the polishing process, first you need to cover the wood with 2-3 layers of varnish, and after that the agent should dry well ..

. Typically, the drying process of modern varnish products takes several days. As a rule, wood varnish is often polished by means of a polishing compound and some kind of abrasive material. The composition for polishing is called varnish, and there are also several types of such a solution.

Depending on the type of varnish solution, you can obtain a polished coating of the following types:

• If you use nitro varnish or shellac, the wood surface will have a glossy sheen.

• After treatment with pentaphthalic, polyurethane and water-based varnish, the coating will have a semi-matte appearance.
• If the wood is treated with an oil type of varnish, a matte sheen is obtained.

Let us consider in more detail the methods for obtaining a perfectly shiny and mirror-like surface.

Details

Waxing

The procedure for covering wood products with wax materials is sufficient simple and easy, even at home. Thanks to the treatment with the composition of wax, the texture and pattern of natural wood will be much more expressive and clearly visible, and the surface will be soft and velvety.

Waxing is very often used on hardwoods such as ash, oak and walnut. It is also possible to wax even soft woods, for example, alder, linden or birch, but it is advisable to pre-protonate such types of wood in advance.

The waxing procedure will involve thoroughly filling all the gaps between the wood fibers, due to which the wax will create an extremely smooth base, which will be further processed with the varnish composition.

The waxing process will include the following steps:

1. Properly cleaned wood from all kinds of fluff (by sanding) should be covered with a mastic layer. When such a composition is dried, the wood should be wiped with a soft cloth against the fibers.

   When applying the first layer, all existing defects and irregularities, for example, pores and cracks, must be fully filled with the mixture. As a result, the wood will have a perfectly smooth appearance.

2. The processed product should be kept in a warm room for about 2 hours.
3. The wax should be applied a second time with a soft cloth. When applying the solution, you should slowly increase the pressure on the wood surface.

   After the second treatment, the base should be smooth and also matt.

4. The lightly applied furniture shellac lacquer is polished.

Although such polishing of varnish on the surface of wood at home looks extremely beautiful. Still, there is a drawback - the wax protective coating after polishing does not have a sufficient degree of resistance to water and moisture. By the way, drops can leave marks on wood surfaces.

Varnishing

By the way, you can polish the parquet covered with varnish. By the way, this will give effective protection to the wood, fill in all microscopic pores, thanks to the varnished processing, they will not form a new pile. After drying, the film will become resistant to moisture, water, dust, chemicals, and the wood pattern will acquire richness and expressiveness. The varnish should be applied to the surface of the product either with a brush or roller, and tampons are also used, which are wrapped in a canvas rag, so that no lint will remain on the base.

The process of applying varnish will include the following sequence of actions:

• The varnish should be applied in two or even three layers, between each type of coating you should wait for several hours to dry the varnish composition.

  It is he who will fill in all the cracks, as well as irregularities.

• After the lacquer coating has dried, it should be almost completely removed from the surface by means of abrasive material. The varnish should remain only in cracks and pores.
• Apply the next clear coat in one coat and this will be the pre-primer treatment.
• After the second layer of varnish has dried, remove dust from it.

• Apply a third coat, thin and dry for several days, in a closed drawer or room. When dry, the lacquered wood should not get dust, and after drying, sand or even polish the varnish.
• Apply a final coat if necessary, and this can be done in one or two coats.Then carry out the final final polishing of the varnish composition.

If streaks appear during the application of the varnish, then after some time stains will form on such places.

To avoid them, you should cover the wood with a small amount of varnish - with even, smooth and slow movements. But it is allowed to pause, for example, after covering half of the surface. You can use shellac and another type of varnish composition.

Application of varnish oil composition

The varnished coating of the oil type dries out for a long time, and therefore it is worth applying thin layers of such a composition. First, the base should be primed, and for this it is important to mix the varnish composition with water in a ratio of 1 to 5.

After the varnish layer dries completely, it should be sanded and then covered with varnish again. If the solution becomes very thick, it can be diluted with turpentine. Work should be done slowly with a brush, do not make sudden movements so that air bubbles do not appear. After the final coating has dried, you should polish the varnish with your own hands.

Polishing

Thanks to polishing, you can achieve a very beautiful wood texture, while maintaining the natural wood pattern.

The result is a mirror-type base that can be made quickly and easily even at home. But here it is worth considering that for each woody variety amenable to the polishing process. Wood that has a large texture will be poorly polished.

Typically the polishing process will include the following:

1. Apply the lacquer mixture as a primer three times. After the first priming, sand the base and then remove the dust and apply two further coats of primer.

2. Polishing is carried out with a tampon, the base should be covered with a thin layer of polish. Then carry out drying and sanding with an electric sander or sandpaper. This process is quite laborious and time-consuming, and therefore it is worth using electrical tools. After sanding, the product will be polished again, dried and sanded again. After several similar treatments, a glossy, beautiful and mirror-like surface appears.

   To prevent the tampon from sticking, you can add a few drops of oil to the mixture.

3. Polishing a glossy finish or matt varnish is carried out with any type of polish, to which very little oil should be added. using a tampon, rub the product until a beautiful shine appears. To prevent dissolution of old polishing layers, add a couple of drops of oil for every 10 cm ² . This treatment will be repeated two to five times to achieve the desired effect.

   Before each treatment, the product should be wiped with a cloth moistened with a mixture of varnish and water.

If polishing is carried out using some other technology, and if you do not adhere to the above sequence of works, the result will be unsatisfactory. For the first time, it is advisable to polish with your own hands in some test area. If these recommendations are followed, the polishing of the varnish will be successful, and the result will be a perfectly shiny, smooth surface.