# Want a clear finish with no darkening of maple



## Jim Nagle (Jan 13, 2020)

I have a slab of maple that is quite old. The color of the wood has faded to a very pale yellow, bordering on white/gray. On an inconspicuous section I tried clear wipe on poly and on another section I used only paste wax. In both cases the wood turned a dark shade of yellow. I want a satin finish but I want to preserve the existing color. Any suggestions on a clear finish that will not "darken" the wood? Thanks.


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## Quickstep (Apr 10, 2012)

I don’t have direct experience, but I’ve heard people recommend this before. 

https://oem.sherwin-williams.com/pr.../non-catalyzed/sher-wood-cab-acrylic-lacquer/


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## Terry Q (Jul 28, 2016)

There is always clear shellac.


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## ChiknNutz (Apr 22, 2011)

I've been really happy using PPG Breakthrough clear as it is a water-borne acrylic. Does a good job of retaining original character/tone.


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## Tool Agnostic (Aug 13, 2017)

Wood will darken when you "wet" it with anything. That's true for many things - if you apply clear, colorless water (or acetone or mineral spirits or denatured alcohol or a finish or ...) it will darken and change appearance. Think of fabric, paper, ... that applies to wood too. 

Wipe-on polyurethane finishes are usually oil-based, and any oil-based finish will darken and "amber" your wood. Sometimes that darkening and "ambering" is what people want. 

If you get your maple wet with anything, it will change and darken. There is no magical, protective, completely invisible finish that will leave your maple looking and feeling exactly like it does when you are done sanding it. Okay?

That said, a water-based polyurethane finish may be the best solution available that comes closest to meeting your needs. People buy it when they want a durable, protective finish that will not color their wood. The salespeople in the store warn customers that it will not darken or color the wood as they might expect, and they often recommend an oil stain and sealer if a warmer color is desired.

Something like this: 
https://generalfinishes.com/wood-fi...ng-sealer/high-performance-polyurethane-water
https://www.rockler.com/general-finishes-high-performance-water-based-top-coat-satin

How do I know all this? Because I live in an area with stricter environmental regulations, where most woodworking stores stopped carrying the oil-based wipe-on polyurethane finishes. We are limited to the water-based ones, so we have had to learn new finishing products and techniques. Some people still bring in the old finishes from outside the local area.


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## Rick Christopherson (Jun 27, 2016)

Years ago I had a customer make a similar request. She wanted her kitchen cabinets to look "unfinished". I had never heard of such a thing before, and it took a bit of explaining from her to finally realize she literally meant that she wanted the finished oak to look exactly like the raw oak sample board I gave her.


I was way out of my element, and had no idea how to accomplish such a thing. So I brought several sample boards down to my full-service finishing supplier. It took him a while, but he finally figured out how to accomplish it. We started out with a white pickling stain that had double or even triple the normal amount of white pigment in it. Then a water-white lacquer sanding sealer, and finally an eggshell top coat. The water-white sealer was the key, because without that step the wood would still look wet. (P.S. don't confuse water-white with water-borne. It's not a water based finish.)

The end result blew my mind, as well as my customer's mind. Neither one of us had hopes that we could actually pull it off. But we did. When you hold up a raw board and a finished board, they looked identical, except one had a slight sheen because it had a finish on it.


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## Rick Christopherson (Jun 27, 2016)

By the way, that project was before digital cameras existed. So I never got good pictures of it at the time. A few years ago her son told me she passed away, and they were holding an estate sale. So I finally got the chance to go back in and take pictures of all the different rooms/cabinets I build for her. (Mahogany fireplace, bookcases, and buffet; Purple theater cabinets, white lacquer bathrooms, and even the very first version of my expanding round table). 



But unfortunately, this is the only close-up I have from in the kitchen. A lot of her woodwork had quirky details like this. She was very short, but very wealthy. So I designed a pull-down spice rack for her. It was spring loaded with a hidden cable system...give it a bump to release the latch, and it would drop down to countertop height.


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## Larry42 (Jan 10, 2014)

Water borne finishes come pretty close to "natural" but they don't stop the affects of ultra violet bleaching. WB finishes have improved greatly over the years. They require a different approach to the spraying process to produce the best results. We've been using them for many years.


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## mosh513 (May 29, 2021)

Rick Christopherson said:


> Years ago I had a customer make a similar request. She wanted her kitchen cabinets to look "unfinished". I had never heard of such a thing before, and it took a bit of explaining from her to finally realize she literally meant that she wanted the finished oak to look exactly like the raw oak sample board I gave her.
> 
> 
> I was way out of my element, and had no idea how to accomplish such a thing. So I brought several sample boards down to my full-service finishing supplier. It took him a while, but he finally figured out how to accomplish it. We started out with a white pickling stain that had double or even triple the normal amount of white pigment in it. Then a water-white lacquer sanding sealer, and finally an eggshell top coat. The water-white sealer was the key, because without that step the wood would still look wet. (P.S. don't confuse water-white with water-borne. It's not a water based finish.)
> ...


Rick... I know it's been awhile since you posted this, but I'm new here so I can't yet send a DM. 
I am trying to get Rift Oak cabinets made with the same parameters (keep the beautiful, light shade they are when raw) but my cabinet maker is having a difficult time creating what I am looking for. Would you be able to share with either me or him the method and products you used for your oak cabinets?
Thank you,
-Merrilyn


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## Rick Christopherson (Jun 27, 2016)

mosh513 said:


> Rick... I know it's been awhile since you posted this, but I'm new here so I can't yet send a DM.
> I am trying to get Rift Oak cabinets made with the same parameters (keep the beautiful, light shade they are when raw) but my cabinet maker is having a difficult time creating what I am looking for. Would you be able to share with either me or him the method and products you used for your oak cabinets?
> Thank you,
> -Merrilyn


Hi Merrilyn. I got your email, and I will reply to you and your cabinet maker with more details. 

Just to update this thread for others, I found one of the original refrigerator panels that the customer never used, sitting in my samples. So here is a picture. I was mistaken in my previous posting. It is the over-pigmented pickling stain that is most critical, but the WW sanding sealer is a close second.


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## B Coll (Nov 2, 2019)

Jim Nagle said:


> I have a slab of maple that is quite old. The color of the wood has faded to a very pale yellow, bordering on white/gray. On an inconspicuous section I tried clear wipe on poly and on another section I used only paste wax. In both cases the wood turned a dark shade of yellow. I want a satin finish but I want to preserve the existing color. Any suggestions on a clear finish that will not "darken" the wood? Thanks.


Target Coatings EM 9300. It is a polycarbonate urethane, water clear and can be used indoors or out. I used it's predecessor (EM9000) on as a protective topcoat on some white lacquer pieces I did about ten years ago. To this day they are still as white as could be with zero yellowing.


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