qt Zinsser 854 Clear SealCoat Universal Sanding Sealer

I recently purchased two matching antique bed frames made out of wood with a headboard and footboard each. They were quite dirty but otherwise in good shape. After cleaning them up, I wanted to restore the finish and add a layer of polyurethane for extra protection. After researching, I decided to start off with SealCoat since I did not know what the original stain or sealant was made of. I was so glad I found this product after searching "wood sealer" on Amazon, because you can't really find it in stores. This sealant goes on quite easily with a brush, and truly adheres to any surface, coating, or sealant. It also does a magical job of restoring a finish- my project was looking rough after a thorough clean with magic erasers, simple green, and a light sanding. After the first coat, any hazy spots, scratches, or weird water rings completely disappeared and it dried to a beautiful finish. I ended up doing two coats with a light sand (220 or finer) in-between coats. This SealCoat doesn't provide a super durable finish, so I opted to add two coats of water based polyurethane on top. The polyurethane adhered wonderfully to the SealCoat even without sanding. The project turned out great and I'm so happy I found this product which was very easy to use and produced an amazing result.

I always use Sealcoat under thinned Minwax polyurethane. I mix up a thinned wipe on 50/50 mixture of polyurethane and Naptha over two coats of thinned Sealcoat that I also wipe on. The results are spectacular and almost impossible to mess up. I also have to mention that the price of a quart of Sealcoat here on Amazon is HALF what it is in any of the big box stores!!

I dont know why this stuff is so expensive and hard to find locally, but it worked for my finishing project.

I love this product. it has saved me more times than I can count. I use it as a blotch controller, a grain filler, a chatoyance enhancer (my favorite) use over BLO (boiled linseed oil) before a clear top coat. This can be used as a barrier between an oil finish and a water base finish once the oil has cured. I use this to seal MDF edges that can soak up many coats of paint. This even can be used as a polished top coat. But that's not recommended. From personal experience 3 coats is the max if your painting over it with water based or it will craze the top coat. I generally use 2 coats, first to raise the grain then sand with 180 knock it back smooth then second coat to smooth it out before a top coat. Everything sticks to it and vise a versa, that's the beauty of Seal Coat. Its almost magic in a can. Just don't lay it on too thick or it will craze.

Wearing as expected

This stuff is magic. Nothing easier in the world to use for literally ANY kind of clear-coating, sealing, bonding, layering, or even top-coating. It dries in MINUTES and you do NOT have to dilute it. It sticks to everything and everything sticks to it. If you build with pine, you are going to love this stuff.

This stuff has so many uses. My biggest hobby is woodworking and I have found so many uses for this stuff. I use it on the top of my assembly bench to keep the hardboard surface smooth and looking good. It makes any type of water based liquids I might spill absorb a lot slower so I have time to wipe them up before it completely destroys my work surface. This stuff works perfectly as a wood conditioner. If you are staining a wood that is prone to blotching. A cut of this stuff with some denatured alcohol with do the trick. You can also use it when you are staining really porus wood species to control the amount of the stain that is absorbed into the wood. Its uses do not stop there though. A couple coats of this stuff on some MDF and it seals it up quite nicely. If you are painting any type of wood and you want a glassy smooth finish. Use this as your initial coating. Sand it smooth then prime it or paint directly over it. You can also use Zinsser Shellac based primer for this, but this seal coat is a little easier to work with. This seal coat does not add that unwanted yellow hue to any wood. You can also tint it with dye. I always keep few quarts of this stuff in my shop.

This is about the same costsas in my local home centers, but it's not always in stock there. It is very easy to apply and seems to last a good while for 1-2 years. The clean up is pretty easy with denatured alcohol and a glass jar. Mistakes are pretty easy to fix, and I like that its basically as food safe as the coating on M&Ms, which basically use a variant of this. Good value for money, and it does seem to dry clear. It also dries quickly. I also like that it doesn't have bad fumes.