Odour free sanding sealer

[Honest John]

Got into trouble the other day with SWMBO (again) because I used a some acrylic sealer (my lands I think) and the stink permiatted throughout the house, even with the Extractor going in the workshop. A good deal of theatrical coughing and moaning followed. I was wondering if anyone has tried any of the odour free sealers I can see on the Internet. I started using the acrylics sealers and lacquers thinking that they are water based, but they still seem to contain significant VOC's, and therefore no advantage to the cellulose based ones. I had used a spirit stain and needed to seal it before finishing. I would be interested if anyone has a non smelly solution for this task. Thank you in advance.

 

[ED65]

I had used a spirit stain and needed to seal it before finishing.

Are you finishing in shellac?

 

[Honest John]

Shellac was a something I thought of but the stuff on my shelf is quite old. I was rather fancying a spray can type sealer as I've had problems before when wiping or brushing on top of the spirit stain, and lifted it. The Mylands sealer I've used has done a good job but the smell when it driest so causing me some grief. Perhaps if I thinned it with some Channel No. 5 !

 

[ED65]

Can I just confirm, the spirit stain you used is reduced with meths?

If it is alcohol-based like I'm assuming then any finish that doesn't contain a suitable solvent shouldn't cause problems with lifting, even wiping varnish (which is mostly white spirit) is regularly used on top of spirit stains without any problems.

 

[Honest John]

The spirit stain I used is the Chestnut product, straight out of the bottle, so I'm guessing that they are alcohol based. I did actually wonder about wiping varnish and might just give it a try. Thanks for your reply.

 

[CHJ]

Surprised to hear that water based acrylic gave you an odour problem, not noticed it when I've use it (Chestnuts).

What is the wood base, is it the wood itself providing the odour when wetted?

 

[Honest John]

The wood is Bly a piece of non description pine type softwood. The acetone odours that come from these products is definitely from the the sealer and note wood. I'm not in my shop at the moment but I'm sure it was Mylands Acrylic Sanding Sealer I n a rattle can. I have noticed before that the Chestnut Acrylic sealer and lacquer both smell of acetone even though they are supposed to be water based. To be honest it was because they are water based that I bought them some time ago, and I was disappointed that they all stink! I found 2 products on the internet that claim to be odour free, but I've no idea if they are suitable for turnings and square woodwork, or just for model makers, as its model making websites that seem to offer them. I have in the past had problems also with acrylic paints and inks lifting when over sprayed with Mylands Acrylic lacquer. I have been advised when I was talking to Margret Garrard that the best plan would be to seal the paint/inks with sanding sealer before using lacquer as a final coat.

 

[ED65]

I can't promise odour-free but one option you might want to consider is taking any regular poly and thinning it heavily with low-odour solvent (making your own sanding sealer). The smell of varnish isn't entirely from the thinners component but it is a major part of it, especially when diluted very generously, so by using a low-odour solvent you cut it down significantly.

 

[Honest John]

Postscript! I mixed up some wiping Poly about 50/50 poly and white spirit. I've put 2 coats on so far, I'm going to put another on after I've put a bit more poly in it and then leave it all to cure. The first coat was lifting the red spirit stain slightly, even after being sealed? With 2 coats of rattle can delivered Mylands Acrylic Sanding Sealer. It seams to me that I can't stop the spirit stain from lifting off. Fortunately it doesn't seem to have affected the look of the frame significantly, so I think all will be fine. The wiping poly mix has not caused any more SWMBO complaints, so might be the way to go for the future peace and tranquility.