If you’ve ever wondered how professionals finish wood, this is your chance to ‘listen in’ to the advice we give to customers on products and techniques across a variety of wood related topics…
Keeping wood looking as natural as possible in appearance is incredibly popular at the moment. There are lots of products that contain white added to them to make the finish lighter, but this can often be seen on the surface of the wood.
Instead, to create an effect that looks just like the natural wood, you’ll need a bottle of Finney’s Invisible Oil.
Shop bought furniture is often finished using spray industrial finishes which have to be applied using specialist equipment however, Finney’s Invisible Oil is easy to use and can be applied by brush.
The colour on the left of each piece of wood is the wood’s natural tone, finished with Invisible Oil.
To the right is the wetted look (known as colour-enhanced) that the majority of finishes create.
The nub of the problem is this… when a typical finish is applied to bare wood it will darken the surface colour like wetting it. You can see this effect by wiping the timber with water or with white spirits and see what happens.
This effect is known as colour enhancing and some finishes will pull out a very strong golden tone because of it.
To overcome the issues caused by colour enhancement, some manufacturers add white into their products which does lighten the overall effect, but there is still the underlying problem of colour enhancement from the finish itself and also of the white getting caught in the grain leaving a limed effect.
We’ve had many customers approach us in desperation after trying lots of finishes and wasting, in most cases, a good amount of money as they look for a better solution.
Here’s what to do:
As mentioned earlier, the easiest method is to use Finney’s Invisible Oil. Waterborne, it dries in around one hour whilst giving sufficient protection to doors and most items of furniture.
- The Invisible Oil must be well stirred and applied to sanded wood in thin coats along the grain – two or three applications are required.
- Cut the surface back lightly between coats (known as denibbing) with fine 400 grit or 600 grit Wet ‘N’ Dry paper – used dry.
- Remove any fine dust this creates with a Tack Cloth.
- It is easy to apply the product using one of our Trade Synthetic Brushes, as these will leave no brush marks.
As it’s name suggests, the overall result after using Invisible Oil is to give the appearance of bare wood, but with protection against finger marking and general wear.
A single coat on beams reduces dust ingress.
We always recommend testing a new finish so that you are confident with the product and know what to expect.
Nice and easy!
If you have any queries about any technique or product mentioned in one of our blogs, please email info@finneyswoodfinishes.co.uk or telephone 01246 261664.
Disclaimer: Information is given in good faith and any advice refers only to the specific products mentioned.
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