I want to buff out my recently applied urethane finish (General Finishes ARM-R-SEAL Oil based urethane). I’ve seen everything online from 0000 steel wool to Turtle Wax to a wetted paper bag to Novus plastic polish to an orbital sander attached to 3M pads (>2000 grit).
Anybody have a recommendation on how best to do a final polish?
what is the item? Got pic?
When polishing metal to a mirror finish, typically the last step is cloth with polishing compound. If you haven’t already done 2k grit, I’d start there then move to a buffer with polishing compound. If the 2k grit doesn’t get rid of the scratches, you need to go more course first.
This is not fine furniture by any means. Just a piece of MDF that I lasered, stained and then applied 3 coats of urethane to. It’s going to be a simple end table for one of my twins. I’m awful with finishes. This time I’ve already sanded between coats of urethane using a 3M 600 grit pad. I just want to try and get the unetched part of the tabletop uniformly glossy.
My personal favorite is the 600 grit sandpaper, wipe everything off (preferably with tackycloth, but you can use a wet rag, just MAKE SURE that everything is dry before you continue), then apply a VERY THIN layer of urethane, then after it’s dried, polish it with something rag soaked with something like floor polish.
I’ve never had much luck using polishing compound on urethane, but I’ve only done it once or twice, so take from that what you will
When @zacharymarkson says “apply a VERY THIN layer of” he is probably (or should be) referring to a wipe-on polyurethane product, possibly thinned with appropriate solvent…
Thanks and yes that how I interpreted it. My last coat was applied with a
rag and wiped off.
From my limited knowledge on this, 600 to 800 grit is fine for the layers then you use 1000, 2000 and a polishing compound on the last coat
@mblatz i actually wasn’t. But that would probably work much better what I do 
(learning moment for me), which is just brush very lightly to avoid leaving brush strokes. Basically you’re just trying to fill in the groves from the last coat and the previous round of sanding
When I am finishing a hard plastic, I use 600 grit wet or dry, and always use with water. This vastly extends the life of the abrasive by reducing clogging. A drop of dish detergent added to the water helps also. I would put on one final coat (I like me the suggestion of wipe on poly!) after a 600 or 800 grit wet sand, then use 1200 grit wet sand to make surface satin smooth. Then try an automotive buffing compound to buff to high gloss.
Gonna third the wipe on poly, it seems the easiest by far for what you’re doing
