Minwax Polyshades $4.93/qt at Home Depot

[windozed]

I was at the Hollywood Home Depot picking up something and noticed Minwax Polyshades on clearance for $4.93/qt. The employee said that since CA is banning oil based paints in around 2 months, the Polyshades was 1/2 off. He said the other oil based Minwax products may go on clearance later.

[wassaw998]

I dreadfully hate that product.

[Imadunatic]

I do not want to hijack this thread, but I agree with chris,
Thanks for the heads up on the deal tho, I know some people do like it.

[Deadhead]

I dreadfully hate that product.

Add me to that list.

[LarryG]

With the replies to the OP unanimous in not liking this product, this question may be acadamic; but for the record ... and for those of us who have never used it ... what's wrong with this stuff?

[JR]

what's wrong with this stuff?

It doesn't have the depth you'd like with a stain plus topcoat finish. In particular, you can't really monkey with the intensity of stain, then add depth as desired. It's a one-step color and topcoat amounting to colored plastic.

Having said that, and in deference to the OP's Bargain Alert, it has its place. When you need a finish NOW, it delivers. One or two coats and you're out the door.

JR

[thallikar]

I am new to this. can you recommend better brand names for stains?

Thanks.

[JR]

[quote=thallikar;265908] can you recommend better brand names for stains?[quote]
Minwax stains are fine. It's the Polyshades one-step stuff that is suspect.

Normally, you'd apply one or two coats of stain (or no stain, if you're happy with the color of the wood), followed by two or more coats of "topcoat" - shellac, tung oil, polyurethane, etc. All this takes a lot of time, though, so the benefit of Polyshades is that it can be done very quickly.

JR

[TheRic]

Can you put plain poly over the top? OR don't mix them?

[leroy37921]

I've used it for coating exterior wood doors. It did a nice job.

[DaveW]

The one (and last time) I used Polyshades, I had all sorts of trouble with it drying too quickly and streaking on me as I was trying to do a little overlap on the thin spots - probably my technique but I figured, since I wasn't the only one hating it, I wouldn't beat myself up over it...

[bigangelman]

Polyshades...............why?

Why in the world would a woodworker's forum even think about using this product. The whole idea of the real wood is to see the grain. Polyshades is nothing more than a colored varnish, which will hide/mask the grain. I really don't even like Polyurethane, it give too much of a plastic look. Give me 1 coat of gloss Varnish and 2 coats of satin varnish and it'll look better than store bought. (sanding between coats) Use stain when you want to color wood use varnish when you're ready to protect it.

Tom

[Jeffrey Schronce]

TheRic, no problem putting poly over polyshades.

I see one true use for this product and that is staining/finishing pine or other wood that a) tends to be hard to stain due to blotch and b) you are not that concerned with the grain or it is a relatively unattractive wood. Using with pine projects seems reasonable to me. Kind of fits the "country feel" of a lot of pine work.

[bigangelman]

polyshades on pine

That is the last place I'd put polyshades! You need to use a stain controller before you stain softwood. A good homemade stain controller is 1 qt spirits 1 once of varnish. You apply a coat of this not letting any puddles form and let it dry a couple of hours. Now when you stain you will have time to wipe it off and the end grain areas will not turn dark/black.

Tom