Product Review: Minwax Polyshades

Kirsten Van Detta, Yahoo! Contributor Network
Apr 17, 2007 "Share your voice on Yahoo! websites. Start Here."

You sanded it down to the perfect smoothness, now it's ready to be stained and sealed. You're looking at another day or two of multiple stain and polyurethane coats in between dry times. Don't they have a product to shorten the time span of this insanity? They do and it goes by the name of Polyshades.

Polyshades, created by Minwax, claims to cut down on finishing times by combining stain and sealant in one step. Minwax even goes so far as to claim Polyshades can be used over existing stain and varnish without altering the wood grain and coating evenly. I only have one question for Minwax. Have you ever used Polyshades on anything? If not, don't waste your time.

Usually I would put a "Pro" section here, but in the case of Polyshades, there really aren't any. Ok, possibly one: If you have a small, cheap project you don't care much about, Polyshades is for you. 2 coats and 16 hours later, you too can have a shiny, new, unevenly coated wood masterpiece.

Cons

Limited color choice

Though Minwax added a few new colors this year, Polyshades still falls way behind in color choice compared to other woodstain products. Minwax's other woodstain lines carry over 50 choices of stain color, whereas Polyshades boasts only 12.

Uneven coverage

When refinishing a wood product, it is important to maintain an even coat of stain so some parts of the wood aren't darker than others. I attempted to use Polyshades to refinish my dining room table and this was the most difficult part of the whole process. For some reason, the Polyshades would attach itself much better to different spots on the table. After attempting to get an even coat with a brush and then a rag, I threw in the towel, ran to Home Depot and begged the original woodstain and separate polyurethane to forgive me and take me back.

Consumers who found Polyshades to be a good product stated they used it on smaller projects. If you are staining anything larger than a bread box, be prepared to have an uneven stain.

Additional coats alter color

When using a regular stain, additional coats are used to deepen the color. If you want very dark results, you usually have to do more than 2 coats of your chosen stain. With Polyshades, additional coats deepen the color very quickly. Minwax suggests two coats, but even the second coat can alter the color drastically from the first. This may leave you in a predicament if you weren't looking for a color quite so deep.

Using over existing stain and varnish

When you use Polyshades over existing stain and varnish, it dissolves and attaches to the preexisting color. If the previous stain and varnish were uneven, whether by wear and tear or lack of master craftsmanship, the Polyshades will also coat unevenly. If you do decide to give Polyshades a try, it's best to sand it down first.

Cleanup

When you find the stain is making an uneven coat, you will have to clean up the mess and start over. No, not if; I said when. You will have to clean up and recoat a few times before you start throwing items nearest to you and using expletives children shouldn't be within earshot of. Even after removing Polyshades with mineral spirits, it was still bubbling out of my solid oak table. Additionally, because Polyshades has polyurethane in it, mineral spirits didn't completely do the trick. A second coat of Polyshades revealed spots where the polyurethane had decided to stage a hunger strike, and it wasn't going anywhere.

To sum it up, some consumers absolutely love this product while others, like myself, despise it. It is really a hit or miss product. It may work out for your project, it may not. I guess at the very worst, if it doesn't work out you just have to strip your project and start all over. On the other hand, you could do it the old fashioned way and save yourself the trouble.

Published by Kirsten Van Detta

Kirsten is a freelance writer who enjoys writing for Associated Content in her spare time. View profile