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Furniture Finishes And Durability Concerns

There are so many options in finishes, how does one know which is best? The resins that actually form the finish can be one or a combination of these resins: shellac, amber, kauri gum, dammar, copal, rosin (pine resin), sandarac, balsam, nitrocellulose, acrylic, urethane, polyurethane, alkyd, urea, formaldehyde, polymer, epoxy and no doubt others. The mixture of resins and solvents will be different from manufacturer to manufacturer as well as within a manufacturer's own line. Every variation effects the user friendliness of the finish and the durability of the finish. Please view the page linked here for information about the health and safety concerns associated with various finishes. On this current page we will focus, in very simple terms, with durability issues.

Actually, durability cannot be considered without also considering beauty. Under direct sun, almost any paint will hold up longer than almost any clear finish, but paint does not display the natural beauty of the wood at all. Conversely, the substance that does the best job of displaying the natural color, depth and beauty of wood, without adding anything to it, would be water. It is clear that some balance needs to be struck between beauty and durability. A third consideration, since furniture gets used and will wear and receive damage, is repairability. Below we offer a chart that illustrates the relative merits of a variety of finishes, all legal to use, and hopefully shows why we have chosen to use water based finishes.

NinetheenthCenturyHeadboardCrest

Beauty

Durability

Repairability

Overall

Water Based Acrylic

High degree of clarity and brilliance.

Moderate scratch and chemical resistance.

Highly repairable with standard repair materials.

Excellent choice for standard duty furniture finish. Classic appearance.

Water Based Acrylic Urethane Blend

High degree of clarity and brilliance.

High scratch and chemical resistance.

Repairable with standard repair materials.

Excellent choice for furniture requiring extra toughness.

Water Based Exterior Finish

High degree of clarity.

Low scratch resistance, good chemical resistance.

Can be repaired.

Excellent exterior finish only. Not durable or repairable enough for standard finishing.

Standard Lacquer, an updated version of the classic 20th century finish

High degree of clarity and brilliance with slight amber cast.

Low scratch and chemical resistance.

Highly repairable with standard repair materials.

Very good choice for standard duty furniture finish. Classic appearance.

Catalyzed Lacquer, hardened version of standard lacquer

High degree of clarity with slight amber cast.

High scratch resistance, moderate chemical resistance.

Repairable with standard repair materials.

Very good choice for furniture requiring extra toughness.

Conversion Varnish, the most widely used finish

Slightly cloudy.

Extremely hard, highly resistant to scratches and chemicals.

Difficult and usually impossible to repair.

Not a true furniture finish. Lacking clarity and repairability required for furniture.

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