Wood finish question

[upnorth]

We just put in a wardrobe/shelving unit made of pine plywood and we need to finish it, but want to keep the color as close to what it is now as possible. I know polyurathane has a tendency to turn the wood kind of a golden color and trying to avoid that. It is in an entryway that we did T&G and leaving that unfinished, but the shelves would collect too much dust and never keep them clean without finish.

Any suggestions?

[K_Josh87]

we use a laquer from sherwin williams... it work very nicely and keeps a good original color... however, the yellowing will come with time no matter what you use... it is due to the oxidization, but it will still be close...

[PurpleFloyd]

You want to use something that is user friendly and that has acrylic resins in it. I would suggest something like Polycrylic waterbased finishes for what you are doing. In my cabinetry business I switched to waterbased products years back to get ahead of the curve and they will give you what you are looking for. The resins in Polyurethane will amber less than those that have lacquer or varnish resins but the WB will be the least yellowing. Just keep in mind the pine will also yellow on it's own as it develops a patina so you will have some no matter what you use.

If you decide to use WB, just remember it will raise the grain so I recommend 2 coats and then go ver it with one of the square sanding blocks until it is smooth and then do one last coat or 2 depending on your preference and you will be set.

[upnorth]

Thanks for the tips guys!

[Hookmaster]

I just built a shelving unit in my utility room. I called my buddy who is a painting contractor and he suggested a water-based product. I put on two coats, sanded with a fine sanding block and gave it one more coat. This is what PurpleFloyd said. Came out very nice.

[Surface Tension]

I'd go with a natural stain and the Polyacrylic. The natural stain won't darken the wood but it will give it a richness as to not look like a plain pine dorm room shelf.

[upnorth]

One of our big things is the plain knotty pine T&G. We don't really want to enhance the color of the shelving so that it still matches the T&G well. Bought some Polycrylic at lunch and going to do a little test piece tonight to see what it does with the wood. Hate to do the whole thing and it comes out looking krappy. Too much time and effort not to mention a couple sheets of 4X8' 3/4" AC plywood ain't cheap.

[upnorth]

Picked up the polycrylic and did a quick test last night. Literally exactly what were looking for.

[PurpleFloyd]

One quick pointer if you are using stain under a WB product like polycrylic.

Just remember if the stain is oil based you will need to wait until the stain is completely dry before putting any WB coating over it or the oil will migrate into the clear coat and give a hazy appearance over time.

Oil based stains can take as long as 48 hours or more before the oil cures out of them and i would use that time as a minimum amount before I top coated it.