How To Make Your Own Wipe on Poly | Easy Home Made Woodworking Finish

DIY Wipe on poly is easier then it looks and a ton cheaper! this is a great way to save money and make your own wipe-on polyurethane
whether you want to put it on furniture, or your favorite new box Poly will give a great protective finish in that natural wood look that people love. this is the simple wood finish that you can make at home for your next woodworking project.
you need one part polyurethane to one part Mineral spirits.

White spirit (UK) or mineral spirits (US, Canada), also known as mineral turpentine (AU/NZ), turpentine substitute, petroleum spirits, solvent naphtha (petroleum), Varsol, Stoddard solvent

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[VaracolacidVesci]

And make sure you pour plenty of solvent on your bench!!! Loved it

[EricEllenbrook]

A tip for those who have issues pouring.

Stick a stir stick, scrap piece of wood, or even a gloved finger into the jar and then pour the contents onto that stick. The surface tension will make the liquid stick to the object and go into the jar rather than stick to the side of the container and go all over your bench. I learned it by being around chefs in the kitchen!

[KevinDrevik]

Really liked this one. Always good to learn something new! Great job.

[GradyElla]

Having just dumped probably a half pint of dark walnut danish oil on my woodworking bench (don't even ask!) I now have the inspiration to just proceed to the top coat. I'll start by mixing equal parts of poly and thinner directly on the surface now that we have both mastered our application technique! I feel your pain little brother, been there, done that.

[middleroad]

AFTER doing an oak king size platform bed, I stumble across this fine piece of info. Handy tip that will be put to use. Did not know you could thin poly....

[scottpardoe]

Thank you for the advise on the colour identification. Great video

[joelcleare]

Still relevant. I used 2 parts minwax poly and 1 part mineral spirits (order less ). Worked out excellent.

[sundu]

Great idea n a great video.
Thanks 😊

[lauravardy]

This is such a good idea, my dad always just buys stuff like this. I'm going to save him £££££s.

[jakedevillier]

Great video. I recently started adding BLO to my mix (equal parts everything). I don't know what benefit it has but I saw the Alabama woodworker do it so I gave it shot.

[tommypers]

When you have left over mix do you keep and use it another time ?

[ridcoza]

Thank You, I had no idea such a thing existed, Im a noob at woodwork, made a desk and varnished the top.
My Initial Finish was so ugly and upon googling i found out how to get it smooth as glass by sanding down using rough to smooth water papers in that order. Got that right and smooth as glass but the smoothest paper I could find was 1200 grit and the last bit of scratches though smooth were just not coming off with a machine polish.
Back to google i found another video showing a wooden floor repair using a product called Wipe On Poly, so i googled again and thats how I found your solution, I made your solution using Lacquer Thinners and Polyurethane and the desk is looking great now just gave 2 coats so far, will give another 2 coats and Im done and the nicest thing is it doesnt take half a day to dry, it's dry within 30 minutes.

I tried 3 different big name hardware stores here in Cape Town, South Africa and the smoothest water paper i could find was 1200 grit at only one of the stores and neither of them had "mineral spirits" but looking at the comments I assumed Lacquer thinners would work and it clearly does work with the glossy finish Polyurethane.

[andreaseliades]

In my country (Cyprus) I cannot find minwax fast drying polyurethane... I can find two part clear polyurethane though... What do I do in that case to make wipe poly? Is it possible to use poly without hardener and mix with mineral spirit as the video?

[joemungle]

Would this finish work with a sanded down epoxy tabletop

[atlantis]

Hi. Can I use regular clear gloss poly in the mix? Mine isn’t fast drying like yours.

[wegaboo]

Ia it possible to make a (water based) wipe on poly?

[JEANEREANO]

Can you use this as a wood conditioner before staining ???

[blackfender]

I have tried this James and the finish works well.But and it's a bug but if I put in a very well sealed Jar in a short time period it is the consistancy of jelly.and will not stay thinned out ever again.

[nahuelgalmarini]

I have water based poly. Can I just use water and apply the same directions?

[authenticsailor]

Could I add a splash of oil based minwax stain to this formula to add a little color?