General Finishes Water Based White Poly, 1 Gallon, Semi-Gloss

I’m an avid DIYer but by no means a pro. I decided to refinish my kitchen cabinets from a glossy dark oak to a satin bright white. I hate the fumes and time consuming clean up that goes with oil-based paint, so did a lot of research on some water-based options including chalk and milk paint finishes. Things kept leading me to General Finishes products. I had settled initially on Snow White milk paint and clear poly, but as their website details, this combination may lead to yellowing over time. I didn’t want to spend several weekends of work prepping, 2 coats of primer, 3coats of paint, & 2 coats of clear just to have a finish I’d hate in a year or 2...hence my decision to go with the GF Enduro White Poly. Not only would it cut down on number of coats from 7 to 5, but I am also not running risk of a yellowing finish over time. I am miticulous about following product recommendations, and although probably more time consuming in short-term, it usually results in better outcome/satisfaction over long-term. CLEAN: Goo Gone & Denat alcohol PREP: Light sand (220 grit) followed by tack rag and Sander Deglosser PRIMER: Zinsser BIN shellac based primer applied with HomeRight Finish Max Sprayer ($65) - 2 coats with light sand/tack rag b/t coats PAINT: GF Enduro White Poly- 3 coats with light sand/tack b/t coats. I sprayed cabinet backs first in upright position & did 10-12 doors at a time so I could lay them flat on small painter’s triangles to dry overnight. This helps minimize drips/runs. Just be sure to check underside edges when placed flat to make sure drips aren’t wrapping around the corner by running a foam brush or rag under the edges. I did all 3 coats on backs followed by all 3 coats on fronts using exact same techniques. I used Whizz Pro microfiber roller (recommended on GF website) and foam brushes for cabinet facings, but otherwise followed same prep/prime/paint process. I did NOT dilute this product with water or other dry time extender due to high humidity and had no issues with spraying or rolling. This product has really nice self-leveling properties w/o any additives so I felt like I didn’t need to dilute based on first coat. Others may find dilution helpful, but IMO, try a test spray on a scrap before spending $ on extender. I have relatively large kitchen with 30 cabinet doors and 15 drawers. I used 1G of BIN primer & about 1.5G of GF white poly, so including other materials, I am around $250 total cost. We love the white finish so much we have decided to change out our hardware now, so for under $400 total, we have redone our cabinets for about 1/5th the cost w/o sacrificing quality. And in reality, the pro I got quote from said yellowing is virtually impossible to avoid over time with sun exposure. I will be posting before/after pics in week or so as we are now repainting remainder of kitchen to complement cabinet finish. I am giving 5 stars for ease of use, quality, price, ultra-smooth finish, ability to color tint, coverage. Everything I used was/is available on Amazon Prime including sprayer, drop cloths, tape, paint filters, deglosser, alchol, primer, sanding sponges, paint, pulls, brushes/rollers, tack cloths, hardware, rags.

I’m a fairly new woodworker/carpenter for about two years now building cabinets and furniture etc. My biggest struggle has always been the finishing process time wise. Always seems that when I think I’m done I notice something and have to fix it. This product takes all those problems away. I def saved a few days on finishing, having to do 3-4 layers then onto clear coat. This product I did two coats of kilz water based primer and 3 coats of this and that’s it! No top coat at all this hits two birds with one stone. And I must say the look is AMAZING and far beyond paint. Really makes a different when you spend the money on general finishes products. Now for my initial biggest worry which was running this thing through my HVLP. I used the harbor freight professional series gun(not the beloved purple gun) with a 1.4mm tip and let me tell you WOW. For those who hate thinning your material well then this is your product! Strained it right into the gun. The coat was even finished after 2 but I had so much fun using this I did one more and wow! See for yourself in the pictures. And happy to say I think have a lot of it left! Buy this!!! I’m absolutely blown away and will def push paint projects farther now because of this.

I've been a professional furniture maker for over 20 years. I've tried just about every type of paint, lacquer, poly, oil, wax, latex, conversion varnishes, etc. Usually if you paint something that will be used, such as cabinets, you have to top coat the paint with a clear finish or else the paint will easily peel and scratch. It adds steps and is a pain in general. This finish is paint and polyurethane in one. Not only that, it's GOOD paint and polyurethane. It's easy to apply, and it's super durable. General Finishes is widely known in the professional woodworking world as exceptional. I have to agree. I'll be using this finish for many more projects.

I both sprayed and rolled this finish on and it turned out smooth and durable. Im a DIY enthusiast and using for the first time the fujispray semipro 2 with #5 aircap with both floetrol and water for a 22-23 second #2 ford cup. It sprayed beautifully 2 coats on top of 3 coats of primer. In addition I rolled the vertical trim work with just floetrol and a microfiber roller and it turned out almost as smooth as the spray on finish. Easy to use with eye popping uniformity, quality and smoothness.

Prep is key. I was able to spray a fairly large built-in for a client with exactly one gallon. Make sure to wait the proper amount of times between coats.

This paint was labeled environmentally friendly, but our experience was decidedly UNFRIENDLY. Both my son and I had extreme physical reactions and lung pain after painting a room. We had to buy a very expensive toxic paint sealer to enclose the fumes and make our house livable again, before starting over on the painting project. I've been happy with General Finishes paint before but this was a huge and expensive disappointment.

If you don't have a sprayer, this is really painful to use and unforgiving. This paint is really really thin, almost watery which means that it ends up being a little messy and hard to load. If you're not a great painter and roll it on, the marks will show. After 3 passes, the paint still looks really thin, the marks increase and you can see the contrast between the marks and the primer underneath. The thinness is also painful if you use this as a topcoat over another paint (white) because you end up with this thin translucent layer over white that looks like you half-painted. I guess everyone who gave it 5 stars here are either 1) using a sprayer or 2) super experienced in painting professionally but this was just painful for someone who just trying to get their cabinets done.

Both sprays and brushes on beautifully. Even with only a 2 turbine HVLP, it sprays easily without thinning. Brushing with a nylon brush also creates great results. A couple warnings about brushing: It is very thin, so you must be careful about dripping. Mostly you must be careful to not "over brush". It dries very quickly, and if you keep brushing when it becomes tacky you are going to create drag marks. Apply it as wet as you can without creating drips/sags, and LEAVE IT ALONE! Most if not all brush marks will level out. If you keep brushing in an attempt to eliminate them, you are going to run your brush over it after it starts getting tacky and mess it up.