General Finishes High Performance Water Based Topcoat, 1 Quart, Satin

Great product. Easy to apply, good protection and nice satin finish

This is by far my favorite poly to use over water based stains and dyes and even latex paint. Now I am a huge huge fan of General Finishes products. By far some of the best stains, dyes, and poly's on the market. In face the only think I dont like about General Finishes products is that I can not find them in stores. You have to plan ahead and order this stuff somewhere online. These days though. All of the best stuff has to be ordered. My being a fan of General Finishes is not why this is my favorite top coat. I would not allow my review of a product to be compromised in that manner. Be advised this satin polyurethane has just a slight bit more sheen than most. With that being said. This is my favorite top coat for numerous reasons. For one. Its forgiving. Water based poly's begin to dry really fast so with most of them if for some reason you brush the stuff on in one spot for to long. You will get this ugly clumping or leave brush marks in the finish. The general finishes stuff dries fast, but is much more forgiving in that manner. It is recommend that you brush the stuff on in a small area then move on, but if for some reason you brush a small area for to long it does not tend to clump up or leave brush marks. Another reason I love this stuff is because it sprays on great with my small compressor and LVLP gun. Many top coats need to be sprayed with a HVLP gun to atomize this stuff properly and get a nice even coat with no runs, but I have an LVLP because I only have a small compressor that only does 5cfm at 40psi. It atomized the stuff properly and I get a nice even coat every time with no runs. My all time favorite thing about this top coat is that I can put 3 or 4 coats of the stuff on in less that a day. This stuff dries hard enough to be lightly sanded in about 1-2 hours depending on the conditions. After about an hour I can go in and hit it with a 220 grit sanding pad to smooth it out and put on another coat. All of the water based or should I say waterborne poly's dry to the touch and can be lightly handled pretty fast, but they will still be to soft to sand. With this poly it is a much different story. Also ones this stuff is dried and cured. It is almost indestructible as far as a polyurethane goes. Even over softwood like pine.

If you’re looking for something that doesn’t disturb the under color, produces a really flat hardly no sheen, then this is it. Kinda expensive, but it does the job, then it doesn’t matter. I spray all my finishes, so I can’t say anything about brushing or rolling.

I had a small job of 3 barstools that were wood stained but I wanted them dark and all the same color. The Fired Earth paint looked great but I needed to seal not only to be sure the paint wouldn't rub off, but to give it more of a 'slick' surface to slide on and off the stools. I didn't need an entire quart for that and have plenty left over but there will be other jobs. I stirred the sealer well. I used a paintbrush to apply. I was a little worried at first because some reviews made me think this would be a little more difficult than it actually was, but I'm confident now to do other projects. I used this over an exterior paint because I like the color but this was not oil-based paint. I put on two coats of paint and let that dry a couple of days, then I used this sealer. I took the stools outside to be sure there was ventilation though this doesn't have a strong smell. It was easy to apply. Very runny and watery (I have the water-based formula), which helped me to apply it easily, but it is drippy so make sure you put something underneath or around to protect other surfaces. I worked rather quickly since the humidity is very low here this time of year. If you don't work somewhat quickly, it begins to dry out a little and becomes a little 'tacky.' I did two coats -- I let the first coat dry about 3 hours, then I lightly sanded, very lightly, with one of those sanding 'sponges' (they look like sponges but are very light sanders), wiped off the dust residue, and then applied the second coat, which I let dry about 4 hours before I brought my stools back in the house. I don't notice any odor in my house from the stain. They look beautiful! Satin is just enough that they aren't highly glossed but have a slight sheen. I am very happy with out they turned out. I'd love to try the matte on some rocking chairs I painted last year. The only thing that irritated me is days after I ordered my quart, the price went down $5--this is how it goes on Amazon, so nothing to do about that, but it still made me irritated. Other than that, I'm happy.

Wonderful product. Leaves wood looking and almost feeling like wood, yet protects it. Ease to apply with a foam roller.

This milky white satin varnish performed well and since it’s water based the clean up was easy.

Bought this product to redo my kitchen table and chairs. I bought the satin finish and if I do say so myself it came out fantastic... exactly the look that I was looking for. The finish goes on easy but be sure you let each coat completely dry before you do another. Take you time you will be glad u did.

I was looking for a topcoat for a mahogany piece that I had bleached and did not want the wood finish to darken it. This topcoat maintained the bleached/natural look of the wood and was easy to apply. I also did not need to apply a lot. Expensive but worth it.

Again excellent finish when applied to rollered paint using foam brush

This product is of excellent quality and produces a finish that is impressive for its beauty. I did not assess the durability as I just completed the project. It dries quickly and ready to sand and repaint within two hoirs. Water soluble, the brush is easy to clean.

Love it