Thread: Minimax Wipe-on Poly Question

Yes, thats how to use it.

Originally Posted by Pusser

I think turning it upside down ensures no air leakage in but the air is still in the bottom (now top). If no air gets in an evaporative finish with reach a stable vapour pressure and not further degrade. if the finish is reactive it will still oxidise and hence some would go off (this is all my theory of course). I like it upside down as when I turn it up the right way the sludge on the top can either be cut off or sinks through the mixture and is easier to mix. How this applies to min wax I have no idea but it might be applicable.

The fumes from the liquid contaminate the air above the liquid ,slowing down the oxidising process of the rest of the contents .
I store all my paints and finishes up side down as well ,have done for along time.
IIRC it was a painter who put me onto the idea ,years ago.


Kev.

thanks for the explaination,
I bought a 4 ltr of cabot DO, as a supposed saving,
I kept it upsidedown and it lasted a lot longer than if I hadnt
trouble was I wasted so much decanting it that now i stick to the 1 ltr size, still its good to know my old dad knew somthing way back then

astrid

ps he would have loved this forum,
he really knew the old finishing stuff

I disagree, if you have air space left in the can, and regardless if you leave the can upside down, or downside up, the side of the can with the air will begin to oxicidize and form a hard skin because of the air remaining on either side the can.

How long it takes either way is insignificant, turning it upside down will allow it to pour out and be useable, but the lose of content will be the same in the end no matter how you store it..

Either replacing the air in the container with objects like marbles, pepples, etc. or a gas, the drying oils will harden in time according to how much reactive resin or air is still present in the can.

turning a can upsidedown is cheaper, faster, cleaner and less time consuming than any other method
Only a trial can tell if it works( and probably on some products better than others.
only thing I can say is I have stored oil base and acrillic paint and danish oil this way(paint for years) and its never formed a skin on the top/bottom

good luck
Astrid

Well, you must be the only one in the world who can claim that feat.

If that was all it took, then why are there so many threads on this subject and other finishing forums.

If you said, you thin out the "oil finishes" where the solvent was greater then the amount of drying oil, then thats another story that was never mentioned here. That old finishing trick works, but it has its drawbacks.

If there is air inside the can, no matter which way you turn the can, and if there is any air remaining in the can it will harden from oxcidation, caused by the oxgyen eating up the molucules in the drying oil, its just a matter of time and how much oxgygen is left inside the can.

Turning the can prevents hardening on the bottom, but not handening on the top, all your doing is changing where the air is, and that is were the skimming will occur,

You can't fool "Mother Nature" by turning the cans upside down. But you can fool her by using different size containers and filling them to the top, or filling the containers with marbles, pepples, etc, or by replacing the air with bloxygen gas.

I once tried that upside down trick with some paint. Opened the can after a couple of years and it looked great. During stirring I went through the skin on the bottom and all sorts of crud and rust came up. I had to throw the tin away. Nowadays its smaller tins and marbles or use the stuff up on something fairly quickly. Must try bloxygen one day.

how many years ?
time tricks us all
astrid

Two to two and a half, no more.

This finishing article appeared in the Australian Woodworker in 2006

I hope you enjoy reading it.