Finishing Oak veneered MDF (wardrobe) - advice

[Prizen]

Hi all

I have some AWO veneered MDF which will make drawer fronts and also panelling as part of a wardrobe built in bedroom alcove.

I have sanded with p320 with a rotex sander, and applied some Ronseal water based satin (the kind B&Q sell)

Looks pretty ok so far, but I am now thinking I'd like a little more gloss to the finish, anything to add to give a premium look really.

Could I apply wax over the ronseal, using a buffing sponge on the rotex?

Any other possibilities? Tks

 

[Jonathan S]

Wax should be fine.....it will give a super smooth feel to the finish.

I have one client that is the touche feely type, I have to wax over all finishes even sprayed flat surfaces are waxed finished......it's a total nightmare if you ever need to repaint.

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[Prizen]

Would it be ok to put sanding sealer over this first coat of ronseal and then another coat of ronseal, with finally a wax?

 

[ED65]

Looks pretty ok so far, but I am now thinking I'd like a little more gloss to the finish, anything to add to give a premium look really.

Could I apply wax over the ronseal, using a buffing sponge on the rotex?

Wax will certainly add gloss once buffed out, but is the least durable of all finishes. Think of it as furniture polish, because that's all that waxes are: polish.

If you want a durable gloss for furniture it's best to use a gloss finish, although gloss over satin doesn't always work the way you'd like you can definitely take the sheen up a notch or two. You may be able to buff up the satin to increase the sheen a noticeable amount but this is risky if there's only one coat applied; I'd want to test this on a well-dried sample of the finish before committing to doing it on anything important!

Would it be ok to put sanding sealer over this first coat of ronseal...?

Sanding sealer isn't a single thing, some would be perfectly safe applied over a water-bourne finish – most of which are just some form of acrylic, modified or not, so sensitive to strong solvents – but not all.

But that aside why would you want to do this? Sanding sealer is intended to be applied to bare wood, or over a previous coat of itself.

 

[Richard_C]

I used Ronseal satin on a veneered MDF coffee table, didn't want high gloss but found the 2 coats I applied not quite what I wanted. Building up extra coats of the satin (each brushed out at 90 degrees to the one before, and very lightly rubbed with steel wool between coats except the last) gave me a good result. Not a shiny-shine but a deeper look. If its the quick dry version you can easily get 3 coats on in a day with 2 or 3 hours hardening time between each, and if you cling film the brush between coats there is no clean up time until you are finished.

2 years on I have just given it another 2 coats. The advantage of sticking with one product is that if you do damage it in future its fairly straightforward to cut back and re-coat. If you have a mix of products and types it can be difficult and as others have said, wax hinders rather than helps.

(If anyone finds the person who wax polished every bit of stained wood skirting and banister in my house before I moved in, please explain to them why I am not pleased.....)

 

[will1983]

Wiping Vanish?
Gloss varnish thinned down to a water like consistancy, wipe it on let it sit for a few minutes and then buff it off.

Alternatively have a go with Osmo Polyx oil, this comes in a range of different sheen levels and tints.

I finish all my wardrobe internals (also usually built from AWO veneered MDF) with oil. Either Osmo Polyx 3032 (I think) or Danish oil depending on the budget and the finished "colour warmth" I'm going for.

 

[sammy.se]

I just want to say that I used 0000 wire wool on my oak veneered bedside cabinet between finish coats, and it was not a good idea. The wire fibres were caught in the grain, and now I have flecks of dark grey on the finish... Just sharing my experience...

Next time, I will use either a very high grit sandpaper, or scotch pads (which seems to be the new thing nowadays )

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