General Finishes High Performance Water Based Topcoat, 1 Gallon, Gloss

Excellent product that delivers beautiful results

Used on oak stair treads and trim over dark stain. Seems totally clear, did not change the color. Excellent results with HVLP gun, no thinning needed. Very forgiving; a few oversprays formed milky white puddles, but still dried quickly and evenly. Runs can be smoothed with a brush and still dry smooth. Also easy to brush - I applied generous coats but still dried smooth. Easy cleanup with soap and water. It did dry quickly in my spray gun so I had to clean some areas with a toothpick, but scraped off easily. Treads have only been installed for two weeks but I expect the finish to hold up. This is very expensive but well worth it in my opinion, will buy again.

Finally a water based finish that works well. Put this overtop an golden oak oil based stain (after 2 weeks drying time). At first I was hesitant when I opened the can and saw the milky white color. It dried clear, uniform and glossy finish. Water based was simple to clean up. Water based was not quite as forgiving as oil based for a brush stroke free finish, but was pretty close. The low vapor was a huge plus for a large built in indoor project. Much better than water based formulations from a few years ago, in my opinion.

Works great on my banisters.

Very easy to use. Dries very quickly, sands like a dream - virtually no clogging of sandpaper - and buffs to a mirror gloss. It does require some getting used to if you're accustomed to solvent-based finishes like nitrocellulose lacquer because the solids content is so much higher - it's very easy to get runs and sags while spraying if you try to get a full wet coat (I'm still looking for the right touch...) But again, any runs/sags are easily sanded off. Additionally, I find that the appearance ("depth") of the finish is greatly enhanced by using a sealer coat of shellac before applying this as the topcoat (as has been the case with all the water-based finishes I've used over the years).