Hi

Had a good week? We are flat out manic at the moment, the Christmas rush has well and truly started. We’ve set 18 December as the last date for sending goods out as this gives us a chance to deal with any problems before we actually shut up shop for the year.
The title this week should be ‘Slimming for Christmas’ but that’s probably not going to happen either…so what about thinning..?

I was very politely admonished after last week’s Newsletter for talking about thinning Melamine Lacquer but not saying which thinners to use for it, which would be especially helpful for newcomers to our products.
Point taken.
So this week is a Thinners Extravaganza and I hope I can answer all your questions about thinning product. My views on thinning Cellulose Sanding Sealer are, I hope by now, very well known – don’t do it.
But there comes a time, when due to age and natural evaporation, the sealer starts to thicken up and then it’s quite alright to add some thinners to bring it back to its original consistency. Cellulose Thinners is what should be used for this and that is also the thinner for Melamine Lacquer (I got to the answer in the end!).
Adding thinners to either product will also help them to flow out, and be easier to apply on large areas, but only up to about 20% in most cases. Otherwise there’s not enough of the ‘good stuff’ in the product to do the job. Imagine having your favourite tipple and accidentally adding twice the amount of mixer to it than normal – you wouldn’t be able to taste it because it’s too diluted.

Cellulose Thinners can also be used to thin Spirit Stain, it works very well, but it will accelerate the drying time even more. Spirit Thinners is better, it’s designed for this use and it will give a delicate wash effect if used properly. Spirit Thinners can also be used to dilute Shellac Sanding Sealer and Friction Polish in the unlikely event they need it. Friction Polish is more likely as this will get thicker with age.
At a push Methylated Spirit can be used instead of Spirit Thinners, but the purple colour can affect the final finish.

Most of the oils in our range can be thinned with White Spirit if you need to, that’s sometimes helpful if you want to get a coat on quickly that soaks in and part seals the wood. Food Safe Finish is the exception here as this shouldn’t be diluted.
Some of our products are diluted with just normal water, but although this is usually plentiful don’t over-thin the acrylics. We’d recommend adding a maximum of 10% water to the product, more than that can affect its drying and performance.

Are you keeping up with this? Fear not – last year at around this time we made our Compatibility Chart available, a sort of early Christmas present from us (Scrooge has nothing on us!). We thought this was a good time to have another chart, so here’s our brand new Thinning/Solvent Chart for you to download and refer to should you ever need to, even if only to double check your thinking.
It also includes what to use to soften dried out materials as well. Just click on the link below to download it as a pdf file.

Solvent Chart

And whilst you’re still reeling from the excitement of this new chart, I shall take my leave of you for this week. Next week’s Newsletter will be the last one of the year, it’s taking a very short break and will return early in January.
I wish I could say that next week’s edition will be a ‘Festive Special’ but it’s hard to be really Christmassy talking about finishes!

Have a good week

Terry