Minwax® Ultimate Floor Finish Preview

Professional Quality Urethane That’s Incredibly Easy To Use

Over the years I’ve spent countless hours applying urethane to furniture, floors and trim work. The task was often tedious, extremely odorous and difficult to get professional looking results. Also, because traditional “clear coatings” on wood involved solvent-based polyurethanes cleanup was extremely difficult and messy. I’m happy to say those days are just about over with the development of water based coatings.

I recently had the opportunity to use Minwax® Ultimate Floor Finish on some Southern Yellow Pine stair treads and the results really impressed me. Many of you may not be overly excited about a water based “urethane” but I think you really should give it a shot.

Ultimate Floor Finish Features

The following are a few of the features and benefits from the Minwax® Ultimate Floor Finish:

• Provides a crystal clear finish – unlike more traditional urethane products, Ultimate Floor Finish is crystal clear so it won’t change the natural color of wood.
• Self-Crosslinking technology ensures a tough floor finish.
• Non-ambering
• DIY Friendly
• Recoat in only two hours allowing some projects to be completed in one day
• Does not require sanding between coats.
• Exceptional flow and leveling – easy application
• Lower in odor than traditional solvent-based polyurethanes
• Cleans up with soap and warm water

Using Minwax® Ultimate Floor Finish

As I mentioned earlier I used the Minwax® Ultimate Floor Finish to finish a set of basement stairs in my home. The stair treads are Southern Yellow Pine which is a very light colored wood (great for testing how clear the finish is). Applying the finish to the stairs included the following steps:

• Light sanding of the wood treads with 220 grit sand paper.
• Removing dust and debris with a tack cloth.
• Applying one coat of Minwax® Sanding Sealer.
• Applying two coats of Minwax® Ultimate Floor Finish (waiting 2 hours between coats).
• I chose to let the treads sit for a couple of day.
• Light sanding with 320 grit sand paper.
• Clean with tack cloth.
• Apply final coat of Minwax® Ultimate Floor Finish.

Minwax® clearly states you do not have to sand between coats as long as you do not wait longer than 24 hours. I waited longer than that so I chose to sand prior to the final coat. After applying this new product from Minwax® I had the following general thoughts:

• In the can the product looks like a semi-transparent “milky” liquid. Don’t let that fool you because it does indeed dry crystal clear.
• The product dries really fast. Within about 30 minutes or so the surface appeared to be dry.
• I was really impressed with how smooth the surface was each time after applying the finish. The liquid “lays” down really flat and doesn’t show brush marks (I used foam brushes for the application).
• I couldn’t notice any odor at all from this product.
• Cleanup is as easy as rinsing your tools and hands in hot soapy water.

Overall Impression of Minwax® Ultimate Floor Finish

I am totally a believer in water based urethane products now. The Minwax® Ultimate Floor Finish is really easy to apply, dries super fast, doesn’t smell, and it’s very easy to clean up. The finish looks amazing and so far it’s holding up very well with no signs of scratches or blemishes. This is definitely a product I’d recommend for both Professionals and DIY’ers.