So we are varnishing our head are at this time. Have been for a while. It has been a learning experience. We are using an interlux interior varnish. We are doing trim areas in gloss and flat areas in satin. At this time I am working on the head door, both sides. Also some small areas in the head.
April 2010 - At Marina Cortez Harbor Island, San Diego, CA
I was at Downwind Marine the other day (imagine that) and was speaking to a guy (forgot name) about varnish. Interlux discontinued the one we were using so we had to get the new version. He recommended sponge brushes. I said they suck. He asked me what I meant by that. So I told him a dock mate said that is what he used then another dock mate said the same thing. The first dock mate said he gets them by the bag at Home Depot. I looked at his varnish work and was not impressed. I tried a couple of sponge brushes and decided no thanks. I have found that using a medium quality paint brush works fine. I then clean it and put into a one gallon paint can with a plastic tub inside. The plastic tub has turpentine paint thinner in it. I let the brushes soak in it. They stay nice. I also have a one gallon can for waste. they smell even with the lids on and they take up needed space. It is a pain to clean up the brushes. So any way he said that the sponge brushes there (DW) were much nicer, better quality and I should try them. They have advantages to the other brushes I am using. So I said ok. I bought some. We have a piece of something at home all the time I am varnishing also, (Debbie is not thrilled about this). So I tried a small sponge brush on the piece we have at home at this time, the louvered door to the chain locker. It did work nicely. It does take a bit to get use to. I have tried two coats so far with it and it seems to be fine. I removed the gallon cans from the house. I used the same cleaning process as at the boat. Debbie was pleased on their removal. So back to the head door. Because we have no place to put the door we are varnishing it in place. I am on coat number six I think. Any way I decide to try the larger sponge brush on the door. My usual method was to paint across then up and down for coverage. This did not work well with the sponge brush. So only up and down was my method. The coverage was a bit uneven and I think I missed a spot or two (couple holidays in the door). Over all it seems to be OK. It was getting dark so I will have a look see this Saturday. I did this Thursday evening.
Clean up was of course a snap. Toss it out. If it looks ok on Saturday then I will be converted or at least try using a sponge brush on the door again.
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