Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with polyurethane

How to remove paint flecks from polyurethane

Red58 — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 16:55:34 -0800

Sadly and frustratingly I ended up with paint flakes in the polyurethane I applied to my the seat of my new bay window. How can I get them off the wood so I can refinish it again with the poly? I got a bay window with an oak seat and header that I have stained and have started to apply poly. I started with just the seat so I could do some learning about how this is done. I am applying multiple coats of the poly so as to make it water proof for the plants that will live there, along with my cat who will (and already has) deposited a few hairballs. I applied my first through third coats, carefully sanding with extra fine sandpaper between coats, waiting 24 hours, and wiping with a tack cloth. For the final coat I purchased a new china bristle brush and applied the poly. But thenn I noticed little white flecks in the poly, and they were not bubbles. Careful inspection after the fact revealed that someone had purchased this brush, washed it and returned it to the store. There was still dried paint on the interior bristles and now there thousands of small flecks embedded in the poly in my window seat. I am sick.

I tried sanding, picking them out with a small knife, but I still see white flecks. Do I have to sand it all back to the wood? Should I try mineral spirits? Help!!

Is it safe for my pregnant wife to be around polyurethane fumes?

bingwah — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 10:09:49 -0800

I want to have 2 bedroom hardwood floors refinished. My wife is about 14 weeks pregnant. Is it safe for her to be in the house with the polyurethane fumes from the floor finish? I have a raised ranch house. The 2 bedrooms being refinished are on the upper level. We have another bedroom on the lower level on the opposite side of the house where we can sleep.

I know polyurethane and pregnancy do not mix but I figured she can mostly avoid the fumes by staying on the lower level as much as possible. The kitchen is on the upper level so there would be times when she's exposed to the fumes.

Are the fumes very dangerous? As an aside does anyone have experience with water-based finishes for floors?

freshen up a canopy

LC — Mon, 04 May 2009 08:09:31 -0800

How to paint polyester fabric canopy? I have a white canopy I'd like to give a little color. The manual says it is made with heavy duty 500 denier reinforced polyester fabric, which is water resistant, fire retardant, & UV treated. This canopy will be spending a lot of time outside this Summer under sun and rain, so it's important the paint job be strong.

I'd like to use paint I already have to save $$$. Would acrylic house paint (or would oil be better?) and a protective coat of 2-part polyurethane work?

Help me buy a foam mattress on a budget

fermion — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 13:12:16 -0800

How can I find the best foam mattress on a limited (<$400) budget? I'm in the market for an inexpensive mattress--$400 is about my upper limit, but I'd be happy if I could find something workable for less. The extra money could go toward a fancy mattress topper.

Ideally I'd like to get a foam mattress--not memory foam, just plain old foam--but I'm having a lot of difficulty figuring out how to comparison shop effectively. I went to a local foam supplier, and they offered to sell me a full-XL-mattress-sized slab of foam for $330; they tell me foam of that particular grade will last 5-7 years. But then I find something like this foam-based futon mattress that seems like a much fancier product for a similar price. Is it really a better buy? Are there other places where a basic polyurethane foam mattress can be had for less? How can I figure out which mattresses are worth the money?

My polyurethane shoe cracked and it's snowing outside. How do I leave my house?

giraffe — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 11:21:13 -0800

How does one go about repairing cracked polyurethane boots? I've owned these boots for about a month, tops. The upper is all polyurethane, and I'm already getting a significant crack along the top of the right boot that threatens the waterproof-ness. I haven't done anything to them other than wearing them outdoors and storing them indoors. Is this something I can fix on my own? Is this something I can bring to a shoe repair place?

If I cannot repair the boot at all, what the damn hell ass balls am I supposed to be wearing on my feet in winter? Especially since these shoes were marketed as being warm for winter and waterproof?

How long does it take a couch to stop offgassing?

sebastienbailard — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 21:27:18 -0800

How long does it take a couch to stop offgassing? I assembled a new Ikea Karlstad sofa five days ago, and while the odor has decreased a bit, it still smells. Worse, there's some VOC that irritates my nose and throat after I sit on it for half an hour or so, which is rather worrying. (My wife gets the same 'acrid feeling' too.) Bonus questions and info:

Are Ikea Karlstad couches especially bad? (I purchased mine up here in Ottawa, Ontario, if regionalization matters).

Are my cats in danger? They're in love with it.

Am I going to die, Doc?

Any guesses what chemical it is, and would it be the foam or the particleboard?

A smooth finish for my refinished cabinet doors

Sublimity — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 22:31:13 -0800

Refinishing/refurbishing my kitchen cabinet doors. How can I apply the polyurethane to get a smooth, even shine? My kitchen cabinets are beautiful, old-school, solid cherry. The finish is scuffed/dulled in some places where it looks like someone scrubbed a bit too hard--not down to the bare wood, for the most part, just patches of dullness. So I want to give them a new topcoat and pretty 'em up, as we're fixing up our kitchen.

I've done a trial run on the least conspicuous door. Looks like cleaning with TSP and applying oil-based polyurethane is going to work out. The trouble is that I can't seem to apply it totally uniformly across the door, and I end up with just enough variation in the gloss that it's almost as if I went through all the trouble for nothing. How can I get a totally even coat?

I don't think that the problem has to do with the polyurethane being insufficiently mixed. I keep the doors horizontal as I apply the poly. I'm using semi-gloss, which is about in keeping with the degree of gloss on the current finish.

I initially tried spraying with polyurethane in an aerosol can, hoping to get an even application--didn't work. I also tried applying liquid with a foam brush and going with the grain--better but not perfect.

Some things I haven't tried yet but am thinking about:
--first applying the poly perpendicular to the grain, then making my final brushwork with the grain, to spread it more evenly.
--getting a *really* wide applicator, like those 12" dealies for finishing hardwood floors, to minimize brushstrokes.

On that last point, I actually have refinished a couple of floors in my time (w/water based poly) and haven't had this problem, so it's frustrating to be having it now!

Any tips and tricks will be very welcome! The scrubbed-out dullness really bugs me and I want my beautiful cherrywood cabinets to live up to their potential.

Replacement foam for a larger Pelican case

hobbes — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 11:18:23 -0800

Need to some replacement foam for a larger Pelican case. Besides Pelican's original Pick 'N Pluck foam, what are some other options? I know the Pelican foam is pre-diced, but I was wondering if I could find something similar (don't need it diced) and much cheaper. This is a large case too, so leftover packaging scraps are probably out of the question.

I'm in San Jose if there are any local shipping/packaging shops.

Thanks MeFi.

What resin is in this fabric?

lobakgo — Tue, 23 May 2006 08:38:16 -0800

I just got some of this nifty resinated chirimen fabric. The manufacturer won't tell what's in it. It hasn't darkened the fabric, doesn't leave a residue on your hands, doesn't smell. It's very pliable, holds a crease, holds a curl, keeps it from fraying. I don't think it's any kind of wax or starch. Googling leads to talk of resinated sails and industrial stuff and a patent from the 1940's in India. I wonder if it some kind of polyurethane, but what kind?

Stain stains?

tristeza — Sat, 29 Oct 2005 18:45:49 -0800

Spilled polyurethane wood stain on my brick walkway - is it doomed? Yeah, so I kicked over the entire can of mahogany stain I was using on a bookshelf. Brill. It now covers about 3' by 2' of my brick patio walkway. I mopped up what I could and kind of just walked away in defeat. Once it dries, is there any way to redeem my bricks from their fate? It is, of course, on the bricks and pooled between them in the dirt (there's not concrete or anything between the bricks, just dirt).

At least I didn't try to hose it down, that would have been a disater, right?

Cleaning Off the Goop

ajpresto — Mon, 08 Mar 2004 06:08:48 -0800

Possibly unanswerable question: I was working with this and I didn't wash it off fast enough with the right stuff. It's a polyurethane based gunk and I can't get it off my hands. Any tips on cleaning nasty, oil based, sticky, slippery goop off my hands now that it has dried? BTW, the truck looks great with it applied. :)