Minwax Water-Based Wipe-On Polyurethane, Satin, 1 Pint

This is a water based 'wipe on' poly. Like all water based top coats, this covers well, is easy to clean up, and does not add any color to the base material (other than possibly darkening a reflectively flat surface). And, as a previous reviewer mentioned, this dries quickly and this feature can be a double edged sword. If you do not apply this over your entire surface within a short period of time, you can easily get ridges or overlaps that don't settle out. This particular product, however, has one advantage over all other water based top coats I've used, it is very thin (low viscosity) and is truly designed for 'wipe on' application. In fact, I would not recommend brushing this on since wiping on is significantly easier to apply the needed thin coat. I have not tried to spray it, it might spray well, but I really like the wipe on aspect and use this product where wipe on is preferred (built-ins or small projects). It is important to note that this is wipe 'on', not wipe 'in'. For each coat this should be applied in one smooth motion, with no more than a quick retrace to pick up excess. Any attempt to 'work' it into the surface will probably make the finish worse and loses the advantage of this finish, which is the ability to apply several thin coats within a day. In 4 hours I can apply 3 coats and I'm done. No sanding in between and very easy cleanup. So far I've only used this as a top coat for Milk Painted trim on some kitchen cabinets and I am very pleased with the results. My only complaint is that it is not widely available and I need to pay outrageous shipping costs for a single pint. Even with the shipping costs combined, however, this finish is worth the price.

I love this product! So easy to apply and leaves a nice sheen without being super glossy. Did have to use four coats as recommended, but they dry within two hours after each application. I would purchase again..

I build a lot of furniture, and have relied on oil-based wipe-on poly as my go-to finish for years. The key thing to understand about this product is that it is completely different from oil-based wipe on poly, so you can’t try to apply it using the same techniques. This product is much thicker than the oil-based stuff, and it dries MUCH quicker. You have maybe 30 seconds to work with it once it hits the wood before it gets tacky. You have to work very fast to keep a wet working area on the surface so your strokes blend together. If there’s a blemish, just ignore it and sand it out later. The key to making this look good is to build up lots of coats, and then use very fine sandpaper to buff/polish the surface smooth. For the sample piece in the picture, I did 7 coats then wet-sanded it with 600 grit. You need to build up a thick enough layer that you can sand out all the imperfections and not hit bare wood. After that you can polish it further, or use a paste wax on top. The instructions on the container say to use a cloth to apply the finish, but I found that a foam brush made it much easier to apply an even coat. Get the whole surface coated as fast as you can, then quickly go over the whole surface again using overlapping strokes in the same direction to even things out. The big advantage to this water-based poly is that it doesn’t smell. With oil-based poly, I have to wait a week or more to deliver furniture because the smell is overpowering. This stuff is good to go as soon as it’s dry. I do think that the oil-based stuff is more foolproof, but the difference in odor makes me prefer the water-based product.

This is my dogs wood food bowl holder, it was actually a shade lighter before and had no real polish/varnish so I decided to try and do it myself. I’ve neverrr done any kind of wood work so I was nervous, but I chose this one because its whipe on! It does exactly as stated, no brush strokes left on it, super easy, dries very fast and there was no real smell! I could even do it inside in a separate room where I let it dry! Just put some kind of cloth or sheet under so if it drips, but even then it was easy to get out of the floor! Also keep in mind, it DID make my wood a slight shade darker, it is something to be informed of. It wasn’t a lot just some but important to be aware of. Mine was the satin water based and as you can see not a lot of gloss at all which is what I wanted! Just smooth! very happy 😍

I never have much luck with polyurethane, I always end up with a drip I didn’t notice until it was completely dry. When I needed to seal a butcher block style table I found this. It was so easy to use. I used a foam brush to apply it, I tried a rag first but the foam worked much better. On the round legs I did use the rag after the foam to make sure I didn’t have and drips. It turned out wonderfully, so glad I found this product, will definitely use it again.

Can't go wrong with this brand. If anything, I'd recommend novice word worker to watch some youtub videos on the "how to" of applying waterbase poly, then experiment on some wood before doing the actual repair/refinishing. This is a dry/satin finish, but I found if you're simply trying to refinish a table and still get like an oil gloss end result, it's possible with this product. I refinished 3 tables and after 3 months all hold up perfect with high wear/tear w/kids and family daily use. There's a specific way to apply poly (water base) to a smooth even finish different than varnish so thus, the youtube vid. recommendation. What I like is there's no fumes. No messy clean up with this water based poly. It does dry pretty fast. Hardens when, and as the product label states. Took awhile for me to transfer over to water base poly. I'm glad I took the plunge. I found gradual 600/800/1000/final 2000 grit sand paper and some fine, slow water sanding, a final coat of this poly getsa comparable oil /varnish finish end durable table top result. 5 Stars. Great product.

love this product for furniture refinishing, wipes on beautifully with a soft rag, my first choice for top coat

I purchased the clear satin wipe on poly. I was refinishing an old table. I think it's maple but not 100% sure. This was my first time working with poly. The previous owners had put what seemed like a hot pot on the table leaving a very deep burn mark. I first sanded down the entire table and sanded out the burn marks. Then I applied about four or five coats of this poly. I used some cheap sponges I bought on Amazon. I just squirted a bit of the product on the table and used to the sponge applicator and lightly applied it evenly. I used a flashlight to shine on the table to highlight any bubbles. I just went over that area again lightly with the sponge. This stuff dries pretty fast so you need to work quickly. Overall they were not many issues with the bubbles. It would just happen when I had too much product on an area. After applying the first coat, the raw wood will absorb the poly and fluff up. So after the first coat I used a fine grain sandpaper and lightly sanded it smooth with a few strokes by hand. I let it dry overnight in between each coat. If parts of the table feel a little rough between coats, just run sand paper over it very lightly. Make sure to remove dust. I applied the poly outside because on the container it says that the fumes are toxic and should not be breathed in. Then I let it dry for a few hours before bringing it inside. I found that the odor was surprisingly extremely mild, even right after application. After it was dry, there did remain a slight odor. But it was not too unpleasant. It just smells like that smell you get when you buy new furniture. I guess that's what poly smells like. I only applied this poly and nothing else. I was really pleased with the results. It really brought out the golden rich color of the maple, and left it with a beautiful glow and a subtle shine. It was really nice to only have to buy a single product and get these kinds of results.

Mal, muy mal. Bote con tapón abierto. Y el mayor problema, deja marchas de brocha o panal y no tiene brillo ninguno. Para devolver una pesadilla!

It's a great product. I used it on the neck of my guitar. It allows you to easily put a thin coat on at a time and it dries quickly. It's eco friendly and almost odorless. Highly recommended.

Excellent result

Very easy to use and gives very good results. I am never going back to traditional brush on varnish or spray can lacquer. Gives better results with much much lesser effort than traditional varnish in a much much shorter time. Gives better results with much much less effort than spray can lacquer though takes more time. Spray lacquer can dry in 15mins. This takes about 1 hour in Singapore's sunny weather. As good as odourless. Clean up with water so easy. Can wipe on with cloth also can brush on. But as it is very thin, there is no brush lines. Minimal sanding (compared to traditional varnish and lacquer) between the layers compared to traditional varnish and lacquer. Reason is minwax is so thin. Dries pretty fast, can be as fast as 1 hour in Singapore's sunny weather. 3 to 4 layers gives me the results I want. Makes me wonder why this is not as popular as it should be. Guess is the cost.

An easy to clean alternative to oil based poly.