Minwax Polycrylic Max , Gloss, Clear, 1 Quart

For starters, I am an experienced DIY-er with plenty of projects under my belt including refinishing furniture and varnishing classic mahogany boats. I have used many products and this one was the worst by far! I usually use Minwax Polycrylic (with the aqua label) for my top coats on high use furniture, and that stuff is a dream! Never should have switched. I was getting ready to start a new project and came across Polycrylic Max. I liked the idea of one coat as opposed to 2 or 3 and sanding in between, so I went for it. Massive mistake. I hope I got a bad can and that the product wasn't actually designed like this. It has THE SHORTEST OPEN TIME I have ever seen. Seriously, two part epoxy stays workable longer. It starts setting so fast that just blending back into your wet edge makes it gum up and roll back on itself. I'm a pretty fast painter but you can't work fast enough to blend before it starts setting and streaking, and the kind of mess it leaves requires full-on sanding to erase. And you guessed it, that went through my black paint underneath, revealed the white primer in spots and required another layer of paint. So, a fresh layer of paint later, I thinned it modestly and got the SAME MADDENING RESULTS. Another sand & thin session later, still gumming. I will try one more time, although at this point if I thin it again I may be compromising its chemical integrity. I'm not sure if it's possible to get a good, smooth coat. And it is possible that the can went old on the shelf or froze before it got to me. All I know is that instead of the one coat it was supposed to be, between paint and clear coat I have actually lost track of how many times I have applied product to this darn bureau top. I guess the bright side is that the grain is getting filled in nicely and the wood is extremely well protected now lol. Bottom line, definitely going back to the good old regular Polycrylic!

once I got the hang of applying it, it was ok. You need to work fast and make sure you follow the instructions, only going in the same direction.

Goes on like maple syrup and is nearly impossible to cover any surface area at all with a uniform coat. If you work it (to try and get a uniform layer of poly) you end up with brush marks. It begins drying while you are applying so you see where you applied too little. The trouble is, if you try to add more you are having to drag the brush over tacky poly that surrounds the area where you under applied the product. I would look elsewhere for a polyacrylic option. I thought their old formula was spot on, and had none of these issues. I cannot speak to durability or clarity. My guess is durability will be very good where you over apply, and lacking where you failed to apply an adequate amount (due to the viscosity of the product, not your skill).

Brushed on and didn't even need to sand it to make it smooth.

I Use this to seal my diamond art and it does an excellent job

Love this stuff. Expensive but a decent alternative to epoxy or just awesome in its self .

I have used this product in the past, very satisfied with it, a bit pricey but I like the product enough to pay for it.

TERRIBLE MESS!!! This stuff dried yellow and has my brown stained staircase steps an AWFUL puke green color.

[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] This applied smoothly, and dried very quickly. We did use a 2nd coat as thought it would give extra protection over time. The odor was not as bad as others.

my new go to poly finish for wood. no odor, dries fast, leaves a clear, smooth finish. MinWax has hit a homerun with this product. Gone are the days of oil based poly with long drying time and long lasting odor. Also, clean-up is easy