I'm getting stressed about flammable finishes, please help!

[GregShelton]

Hi everyone,

I have decided to try and teach myself a few finishing techniques from the comfort of my home and, after a good amount of reading and watching online tutorials, I would like to try my hand at a brushed on gloss finish.

I wanted to start with a water-based PU finish as I understand that they do not possess high levels of VOCs so are less prone to spontaneous combustion. I think I may be over-reacting in terms of worrying about the possible risks but I live in an apartment building and so I don't want to introduce anything that could pose a definite fire hasard.

The trouble has been that I couldn't find a PU gloss, only a satin and I have also seen a nice-looking gloss but with a nitro-cellulose base and what's more, I have been offered a cross-linked gloss finish for free by a friend.

Can I bring either the cross-linked finish or the nitro-cellulose into the building in good conscience or do I just need to keep hunting for a water-based PU gloss?
Are there handling and storage procedures that will reudce the danger of combustion (with the more flammable types of finishes) to a level that is acceptable in a shared building ?

Thank you all,

Greg.

PS - Could someone also please explain to me how I can like/thank replies?

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Top right hand side - a little box with "Like" in it.

 

[custard]

You can find water based gloss PU, just keep looking. When you apply PU try not to overwork the surface or it goes a bit cloudy.

 

[sunnybob]

You are definitely overthinking it.
Oil based paints are almost certainly all around you unless your apartment is brand spanking new.

I work with oil based varnish in temps of 40c every summer. I mix it with white spirit so I can wipe it on. I even tried leaving the screwed up rags in a bin as a test and nothing has ever caught fire.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Which is neither here nor there, of course. Spontaneous combustion isn't exactly an unknown phenomenon.

 

[MikeG.]

I've actively tried to have it happen. Screwed up oily rags in a cardboard box surrounded by loosely crumpled newspaper.....that sort of thing. Nothing I've tried succeeded, unfortunately. I really wouldn't worry about that aspect. I now put the rags to one side as they make good fire-starters for the BBQ or bonfire...........but that doesn't mean that a finished piece of furniture is any more of a fire hazard than an unfinished one.

 

[mbartlett99]

You're overthinking it by a ways.

Spontaneous combustion of course is a known phenomenon but read any articles carefully - what tpe of oil, what type of fuel. The best known one is linseed oil soaked cotton; linseed oil is an oxidant that generates heat as it decomposes - enough to ignite cotton waste in certain specific circumstances.

Bonachemi do a water based pu gloss but I've only used their satin.

 

[GregShelton]

Thank you for all the responses.
I'm mainly working off information I read in an old edition of Wood Finishing Techniques by Michael Dresdner published by Fine Woodworking. He is pretty stern regarding warning about combustion risks. I just don't want to be irresponsible about what I bring into my building when I share the space with a good number of other people but I see that I am a bit too worked up about it!

If I do go for the nitro-cellulose or cross-linked finish, where is best to store it? In my room? In the building's basement area, in the loft or outside?
If the can/bottle is nice and tightly sealed, is everything well?

Thanks!

 

[ColeyS1]

I'd say there's more chance of you burning the place down with your oven, microwave, kettle or phone charger.

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

 

[MikeG.]

Thank you for all the responses.
I'm mainly working off information I read in an old edition of Wood Finishing Techniques by Michael Dresdner published by Fine Woodworking. He is pretty stern regarding warning about combustion risks. I just don't want to be irresponsible about what I bring into my building when I share the space with a good number of other people but I see that I am a bit too worked up about it!

If I do go for the nitro-cellulose or cross-linked finish, where is best to store it? In my room? In the building's basement area, in the loft or outside?
If the can/bottle is nice and tightly sealed, is everything well?

Thanks!

There's an element of paranoia about this. Your container of wood finish ( whichever one you choose) and the furniture it is used on, are far less a fire hazard than your domestic electric appliances.

 

[ED65]

Greg, I think you're right to have some caution about this, especially since you're not living in a single-occupant dwelling. But realistically think about all the flammable liquids that the building must already have stored in it, including perfume, nail polish remover... and any decent spirits

Spontaneous combustion is a real risk surrounding the use of finishing oils and varnishes, but only for any rags wet with the finish. The liquid finishes are no more hazardous than a bottle of booze, and actually far less flammable than perfume!

Application or wiping rags should be treated with respect but it genuinely is as simple as anything to use them safely – you either dry them (over the back of an unupholstered chair or flat on the ground) until they're stiff and then put them in the rubbish, or instead you pop them immediately into a jar or tin with water in it.

If I do go for the nitro-cellulose or cross-linked finish...

You realise these are spray finishes yes? No point in contemplating these unless you have a spraygun and a compressor.

And spraying solvent-based finishes in an enclosed space is actually a much greater fire/explosion hazard than oils and varnishes.

P.S. If if you stick with oil-based varnishes I strongly recommend you look into wiping varnish as it's a far more user-friendly approach to applying them to a good standard, nearly foolproof even for the beginner and requires the minimum amount of sanding (nearly none in fact).

 

[GregShelton]

Thanks for the reply! I have been offered the cross-linked finish for free but I was hoping to apply with a brush. Is that totally out of the question?