No Stain Gel Top Coat

This was the gel stain top coat i chose to finish my kitchen and bathroom cabinets.

No stain gel top coat.

However since one is water based and the other is oil based you must wait at least 3 days to apply the water based poly. A rough surface there still traps more stain pigment particles than on other surfaces. I like to use high performance top coat water based over this stain. Works on bare wood surfaces for a beautiful satin finish.

Take a serious stand against tough stains with young nails stain resistant gel top coat. Think of stain as the color and top coat as the sealer and protectant. Continue doing daily layers of stain in the same way until you can no longer see streaks in the finish. I also spray painted the metal bases at this point.

If applying stain exteriorly top coating with an exterior clear finish is strongly recommended. Don t expect gel stains to get you out of sanding end grain to a finer grit. Each coat of stain needs about 24 hours to dry so plan accordingly. Also mentioned no sanding in between gel stain coats but yes sanding lightly with 400 grit between top coats and of course no sanding the final top coat.

Clean up with a washcoat. If the stained finish is still tacky wait another day or so to apply the poly. The beauty of gel stain comes from the thick urethane which can carry a lot of color to any surface but that color must be sealed in with top coat. Almost a no prep product just clean and remove any wax or grease.

This is a water based top coat so you have to wait 3 days after doing the oil gel stain. Excellent for flooring and heavy use kitchen table tops etc. It also has a uv stabilizer which helps protect the finish from breaking down in the sun. This could be due to using a light that 1 needs bulbs changed 2 just isn t strong enough due to low quality 3 if cordless the rechargeable battery is no longer good.

All stains need a top coat. What kind of top coat can i use with gel stain. Apply a liberal coat of gel stain with a firm synthetic brush or lint free rag and work the stain across and into the grain uniformly feathering out streaks while stain is wet. Gel stain is an oil based urethane that includes a protective top coat.

I just bought the arm r seal as he recommended and we will see how it goes. For use on acrylic and hard gels. No sanding or de glossing required to apply this. Wipe brush often on a lint free rag to remove excess stain.

The high urethane content of general finishes gel stains results in a lustrous finish that tends to fool people into assuming no sealant is required. Clean up and cure time.