Arm-R-Seal finishing question

[TPangborn]

I can't seem to find an answer to this anywhere.

I'm using Arm-R-Seal satin, and dealing with a streaky finish. On General Finishes website, it says you can remove streaks by buffing with 0000 steel wool.

My question is, do I wait until the 30 day cure time has passed, and then buff with steel wool? Or should I do the buffing during the cure? I applied my final coat a couple of days ago.

Thanks!

[drzaius]

Any kind of surface rub out or buffing will work better once the finish is completely cured.

[TPangborn]

Thanks for the response! I'll wait the full cure time then.

[Chestnut]

If you can sand the finish with out little finish pills forming it's cured enough. The amount of time depends on how thick you applied the finish. I can get away with sanding after 24-48 hours. Are you applying another layer of finish? Even steel wool going to leave scratches that will be obvious on the finished surface. You really want your last coat to not be touched unless you polish it with a very high grit, much higher than what you can get in steel wool.

[Dknapp34]

ARS satin can be streaky if you don’t stir really well. Make sure you are stirring it a lot. I find I have better luck with thinned coats of semi gloss and using the satin as a last coat to knock down some of the sheen.

I’ve never had much luck with getting the streaks to go away once they’re there. Plus if you’ve done several coats and the streaks are in the earliest ones, you probably won’t be able to buff them out because you won’t be getting down to the first few layers. Hope it works for you, but you might have to decide whether to sand down to bare wood if the buffing doesn’t work. 

[JohnG]

Can you describe your finishing process? Any stain or dye applied before the ARS? A couple pictures could also help if you can get them to show the streaks.

I've always applied ARS in a similar manner to this video (LINK) and have never had an issue with streaks. Maybe I'm just lucky, but this process has given easy and good results on almost all of my projects.

 

1 hour ago, Chestnut said:

If you can sand the finish with out little finish pills forming it's cured enough. The amount of time depends on how thick you applied the finish. I can get away with sanding after 24-48 hours. Are you applying another layer of finish? Even steel wool going to leave scratches that will be obvious on the finished surface. You really want your last coat to not be touched unless you polish it with a very high grit, much higher than what you can get in steel wool.

I guess environment also has a large effect on dry time, I can usually sand and reapply after 4-6 hours, 8ish in winter. After my final coat I often use very light pressure with 1,000 or 1,500 grit. I've been meaning to try brown paper bag, but haven't had a chance yet.

[Coop]

I’ve found drying time is more dependent on humidity than the temp. Also, and I’m sure it’s obvious, applied with a foam brush takes longer to dry than if applied with a rag. I too have never had streaking problems and I say that in a whisper.