The secret to a professional wood finish is to rub it out. Rubbing out a wood finish is a two-part process that involves leveling the surface and refining the finish. It removes the imperfections left behind during the finishing process, creating a smooth and level surface that will have people awed by your craftsmanship. Read these steps to learn rub out a wood finish.
Instructions
1. Choose one of the three kinds of abrasives you can use to rub out a wood finish: sandpaper, steel wool or rubbing compounds. Use sandpaper if you must level your finish. Sandpaper comes in an assortment of grits, and the higher the grit number, the finer the scratches it will produce. Steel wool also comes in varying grits, with 0000 (4-aught) being the most common grit used for rubbing out. Steel wool is a good abrasive to use if you are a beginner because it cuts through the finish slowly. Rubbing compounds are meant to be used with liquids and produce the highest sheen of all the abrasives.
2. Level your piece by sanding, if required. Sandpaper is a good choice for this because it works well at removing orange peel, drips, sags and dust nibs. Depending on the type of sandpaper you use, you can either sand dry or with lubricant. Using lubricant will cut down on "corning," which occurs when a finish balls up and sticks to the sandpaper, increasing your chance of scratching the wood surface.
3. Move on to refining the piece. Use either sandpaper, steel wool or abrasive compounds, rubbing them over the wood finish in a circular motion. Avoid edges where the finish will be thinnest. When rubbing out pieces with cross-grain joints, use masking tape at the joint to avoid putting scratches in the cross grain. In your final rub-out, move your abrasive with the grain of the wood rather than in a circular motion.
Tags: wood finish, circular motion, sandpaper steel, sandpaper steel wool, Steel wool