# Help! My finish scratches so easily and looks awful...



## ander (Jun 12, 2008)

What did I do wrong?

I built a great table, stained it with a dark ebony stain and it looked beautiful. But because it is a kitchen table, I wanted to put a decent finish on it to protect the wood. I applied Minwax polyurethane, I think satin, according to the directions, sanding between coats. I think I did 2 or 3 coats. It was fine for a day and then it started getting horribly scratched so easily. And because the stain is dark, the scratches are very visible white lines in the polyurethane. I'm sure the wood underneath is fine, but it looks awful.

What can I do to fix this? Is there any way to just remove the polyurethane without removing the stain? Do I really need to use a finish over the stain, and if so is there something better that won't scratch so easily, or show scratches so well? Would pictures help?

Thanks for any help you can give!


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## joesdad (Nov 1, 2007)

Ander, ever own a black car? Same principle applies. You will see much more with that dark base color underneath as opposed to natural pine for example. Also did you allow plenty of drying time between your coats? Poly dries fast to the touch, but needs 0 humidity to fully dry in adequate time.

There are much more durable finishes out there too, spar varnish or lacquer comes to mind.


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## ander (Jun 12, 2008)

I'm sure that's part of the problem, but there is no way it should scratch so so easily. I think I do need to redo it with a more durable finish - I just used the minwax because that was what was recommended at the hardware store. I just want to get some advice on what I should use before I waste the time and money redoing it with something else that doesn't work. Maybe lacquer then?

I waited 24 hours between coats. I don't know if that's long enough, I just followed the directions. 

What's the best way to take off the minwax poly stuff?


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## jerry (Nov 1, 2006)

There are two common ways to remove the current finish: sanding; chemical stripper. I would suggest the chemical stripper and after that is done completely apply either Waterlox Original Varnish or Behlen's
Bar Top Varnish. They are both made using a phenolic resin and are very hard.

Regards

Jerry


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