Wood products have been in demand for many centuries, as they have no equal in terms of environmental friendliness and durability. Wooden furniture is always unique, as it is impossible to meet two trees with the same pattern. To preserve and emphasize the natural appeal of the wooden palette, wood polishing is used. Polishing is a particularly time-consuming and highly artistic activity that requires certain skills, patience and time. Polishing is the smoothing of surface irregularities using various tools and reagents.
Why polish the surface?
The polished surface becomes absolutely smooth, sparkling. With its help, you can emphasize the natural beauty of the tree, favorably highlighting the textured pattern, give the array the desired shade, protect the surface from mechanical damage, water, absorption of odors, detergent chemicals, as well as the development of fungalprocesses and darkening. Breathe life into old wood products, rid them of chips, dirt and give them a pristine gloss.
Tree species most suitable for polishing
The wood of different trees has different properties. For example, from coniferous species, it is difficult to polish the pine massif, since the wood is too sharp, has significant humpbacks, roughness and resin ducts, but cedar and larch have a beautiful texture and are well processed. Among deciduous trees, birch products look much richer after polishing, imitating walnut, mahogany, maple. Aspen is also well processed, and in terms of wear resistance it can compete with oak. To create a light, unusual texture, they take a lime array. Products made of pear, apple, walnut and boxwood tolerate polishing well and become even more refined. It is very difficult to polish oak due to the fact that the tree has a hard wood and a large texture.
Types of surfaces to be polished
The front surfaces of wooden products, which are most susceptible to various kinds of influences, need to be polished. Floors, ceilings, furniture, walls, window sills, wooden details of flights of stairs and other interior items. Wood polishing is used both for the primary processing of arrays, and for the restoration of rare items that have various damages or have lost their appearance. The treatment can be applied to surfaces with various initial coatings: lacquered, stained or painted.
Toolfor polishing wood
Before you start work, you need to stock up on the necessary equipment. For rough processing of bulk surfaces or removal of the old coating, it is advisable to mechanize the process. Professionals use special grinders and planers for this.
To polish wood with your own hands, you can use universal tools (grinder, drill) with various nozzles. Consumables are selected depending on the types of polishing.
Steps of work
They are as follows:
- Surface preparation - sanding.
- Applying a ground coat.
- Processing the product with polish - polishing.
- The final stage is polishing.
Sanding wood flooring
Grinding involves the complete or partial removal of the old cladding. If the product is varnished, then the coating can be removed in several ways: chemical, thermal and mechanical.
Chemical method
Old lining can be removed with a special washer. It is applied to the surface for 3-4 hours, dissolves the varnish and then removed with a spatula. The next step is to neutralize the wash itself with warm water with the addition of food vinegar. With this method, before carrying out further operations to update the coating, the product is dried from one to three days in a draft without direct access to sunlight. This is a long process and is used when a delicate effect on the wood is needed.
Thermal method
With this method, the upperthe layer is heated with a building hair dryer. Under the action of high temperatures, the coating softens and is removed with a spatula. When overheated, the lining swells, which is a warning, as a fire may occur. Due to the release of harmful substances when heated, this method is only suitable for outdoor work.
Mechanical method
The mechanical method involves the removal of the old coating with coarse-fiber nozzles and significantly injures the top layer of the tree. If the varnish or paint leaves in layers, then the old coating is removed with a wood polishing brush with metal bristles, a spatula or a screwdriver. If it is not possible to get rid of the top layer in this way, then special or adapted machines for grinding and polishing are used in the work. When using these tools, eye and respiratory protection against dust is required. To reduce its amount, you can wet the surface with water, but then it needs to be dried before the next stage of work. To do this, use surface grinders, angle grinders, belt grinders and drills with a nozzle for polishing wood.
Drill is used in small areas, surface grinder - on even and flat surfaces. Larger volumes will require belt sanding. Polishing wood with a grinder is universal, including can be used when processing corners and ends. Grinding is carried out in several stages using different nozzles with a gradual transition from coarse to fine. Forstripping even small products use scrapers. It is important that the tool be well sharpened and free of burrs that could damage the surface.
Wood polishing at home can be done with the help of an improvised tool. To do this, fix the sandpaper on a bar of soft wood.
Ground coat application
Surface priming is a necessary step in wood polishing. When priming, all the cracks and pores of the wood are filled with the composition, the surface is leveled, the hygroscopicity of the wood is reduced, which saves the polishing composition and makes its application easy, and the result is better. Primer mixtures improve the adhesion of materials, so the final coating lasts much longer. Soil compositions protect the tree from rotting, mold and pests, increase its strength and smoothness. Depending on the degree of surface treatment and on what finish coating will be applied, several types of soil mixtures are used. If the surface is poorly sanded, you can buy an alkyd primer that forms a dense protective layer, providing a matte and smooth surface. Due to toxicity, it is best not to use alkyd mixtures indoors. The drying time of the product is from 12 to 16 hours. Acrylic primer has the same properties. It is used before painting with latex, water-based and acrylic paints. This primer composition has advantages, as it dries quickly, is diluted with water, non-toxic. Before applicationparquet varnish, wood is primed with a polyurethane primer consisting of synthetic resins and a solvent.
Shellac primer is used for processing knots and softwood, as it neutralizes the effect of resins on the finish coat. Various antiseptic compositions are designed to combat diseases and pests, and preserve the tree. Unpainted products are recommended to be treated at least once every 5 years. If you need a composition that penetrates well into the deep layers, then you can use drying oil or alkyd enamel. Drying oil is a good base for applying oil paints. Processing with hot drying oil will protect the tree from moisture. This composition is applied in two layers. Putty protects the wood from cracking at low temperatures. When polishing wood at home, you can prepare putty yourself from PVA glue and sawdust. This composition is used before applying varnish.
Ground mixtures are applied with linen swabs on small items. Rollers are used to process large areas, and aerosol spraying is used for hard-to-reach places. Soil mixtures are applied in two layers, the second layer is primed after the first has dried. After the second layer has dried, the surface is sanded with fine sandpaper.
Polishing
Several types of coating are used to polish wood. To give the surface a mirror finish, compositions based on shellac and nitro-lacquer are used. Shellac is a naturally occurring resin secreted by insects. You can buy ready mixesbased on shellac, or you can make a polish yourself by dissolving shellac in denatured alcohol or ethyl alcohol. Varnishes of different colors are used to achieve the desired color. A golden-yellow tint is given to the tree by “button” varnish. It is made from the highest quality raw materials. A medium brown color is given to the wood by a standard polish made from orange shellac flakes. Dark polish gives the wood a warm brown-red hue. White, made from discolored raw materials, is processed with arrays of light rocks. The transparency of the polish comes from removing the wax from the shellac. It is used to preserve the natural shade of especially light woods. To radically change the color of the array, colored polishes are used, which contain black, green and red dyes. With the help of green varnish, furniture is “aged”, red gives brightness and juiciness. The color is adjusted by adding alcohol stain drop by drop.
Nitro-lacquer polish consists of colloxylin varnish, resin and a volatile organic solvent. Such coatings form a strong elastic film on the surface, which, when polished, acquires either a mirror gloss or a matte texture when zinc stearate is added. Each new layer of such a coating is firmly connected to the previous one, creating a monolith.
When buffing, a lint-free cloth swab is moistened with sunflower or machine oil and a polishing mixture. Then with translational circular movements without strong pressuresolution is applied to the surface to be treated. It is important to apply a small amount of the composition so that no drops remain. After the first layer has dried, the second and third are applied. After the last layer has dried, the surface is again polished with a fine-grained material.
Polishing
For final polishing, a wax-based wood polishing paste is used. This type of coating is absolutely safe and environmentally friendly. You can buy this paste at the store, or make your own. To do this, melt ¼ cup of wax with constant stirring. Then, removing from heat, slowly introduce the same amount of turpentine. After cooling, pour the mixture into a closed container. You can get rid of the smell of turpentine by adding essential oils of cloves, lavender, tea tree, eucalyptus, juniper, oregano to the composition. Instead of turpentine, you can use olive oil or petroleum jelly. Polish the surface with a cotton cloth. Polishing wood with wax not only protects the surface from dust settling, gives the surface a shine, but also masks shallow scratches and chips. This coating protects wood products for a long time, but fingerprints remain on it when touched.
To polish a tree with your own hands, you can prepare mixtures of olive oil and lemon juice, water and ammonia or vinegar essence. Such solutions are applied to a wooden surface with a sprayer and rubbed with a soft, lint-free cloth.
Do-it-yourself wood polishing requires skill andpatience, but if all the rules are followed, new wooden products will last longer, and old ones will acquire an exquisite gloss and charm.
