Fall 2021 Product Showcase: Aquacoat

So this Paul was an interesting science experiment that I know you and I talked about this a lot. If you're gonna do woodworking projects, you're gonna do finishing where, it was interesting as we talked about aqua coat in that, where I was all gaga over the results of the science fair test that we're gonna talk more about in a second, you were more gaga just over the look and feel of this as a water-based finish compared to solvent-based finishes that you've used in the past. Absolutely. It has the warmth of a solvent-based finish. I would never guess that it was a water-based product. So the science fair part of this, here's what I'm talking about. There is a test that is administered by the KCMA, Kitchen Cabinet Manufacturers Association. And that's why this sheet is here. This was my roadmap for the test. In this test, you put like the worst possible stuff you could put on a finish. Grain alcohol, orange juice, coffee, it's all described in the video that we're about to show you. And you leave it on there for a day. And honestly, I'm aghast that this seems pretty extreme to me, you know, think about the worst case scenario, somebody spilling stuff on your beautiful kitchen or dining room table. And we've covered that here. So instead of me rambling on and on, let's look at the video that covers the science fair test and you would see the results there and then we'll come back and talk about it some more. Sounds good. We're gonna do a little bit of a science experiment here. One of the things that concerns people with using water-based products apparently is the idea that water-based products can't be, are they, as durable as solvent-based products? So I've got three different aqua coat products here. I've got boards prepped with those products on them, and we're gonna use KCMA standards for this, Kitchen Cabinet Manufacturers Association. And I'll talk more about those standards and what I'm gonna do. But it's pretty cool. It's a little bit like a science fair. I'm gonna put some highly acidic stuff on these finishes. See how they do. Here's the deal. Think about whatever, kids are sitting at your table, or you have company over and people spill stuff. What's the stuff in your head that sets up the worst case scenario for that? Here's what we're about to put on these finishes. Lemon juice, grain alcohol, vinegar, orange juice, mustard, ketchup, my favorite ingredient, coffee. And what do these all have in common? Well, they're liquids. So, you know, a lot of finishes just don't hold up to liquids in general. Two, this is all really highly acidic stuff. The way this test works is that these items go onto the boards. They sit for 24 hours. Mustard sits for only one hour. Then when they come off, we have a look at the results. So next step is put the stuff on. I've got a little bit of a chemistry background. And so I did set this up with... in order to get reputable results. One of the things I did for that, is I made a roadmap and this shows me top of the board. All the boards are marked with a T. And then grain alcohol, vinegar, orange juice. So there's a grid here so that when I put those ingredients on the boards, they're all getting done exactly the same way. Remember that according to the KCMA standards, most of that stuff sits overnight, sits 24 hours. The mustard sits for one hour and then that comes off. So the other thing I've done is I'm using just a basting needle and I've got the stuff, the ingredients inside those needles that's gonna let me control getting it onto the boards uniformly. And next thing we're ready to put schmutz on boards. Then, and I've said this before, the mustard is gonna come off in one hour. Everything else is gonna sit for 24 hours. So now we're just waiting to see results. Twenty-four hours later, I've mentioned a couple of times, the mustard comes off right away. Now, I'm getting the rest of the stuff off and I am so impressed. This is very cool. You know again, talk about picking like the worst possible stuff to spill on a finished piece of furniture. This is it. And boy is it coming off clean. Let me get the residue off of here, and then we'll have a look at the boards more closely. I've shifted things around just a little bit cause one of the easiest ways to see what a finish looks like is to get a low glancing look across it. So when we look at these finishes, when we look at these boards, it's just incredible that even with lemon juice, mustard, ketchup, all the stuff we've talked about, no marks left on the finish. So again, what we're looking at here is aqua coat lacquer, tabletop, and their aqua thane finishes. And man, they certainly did pass the test. That Paul was like, it was one of the funner, cool... You know, I do have this chemistry, physics background from my youth when I thought I was gonna teach high school in chemistry and physics. And that was such a nice throwback to that. And it was fun and it was amazing to see the results. Yep. So again, I mentioned it in that video but we looked at their lacquer, their aqua thane and their tabletop. Three distinctly different products. All on red Oak plywood, the pieces that I have in front of me right now. And all of which passed those extreme tests with flying colors. I mean, we were talking about brush versus spray. Either application method is fine. And then the other thing I did wanna point out too is, I've got gallon jars in here but these are also available in smaller containers. So if you don't need this volume of liquid for your projects, you can get less of it. That's good stuff. You know, if this was 20 years ago, I'd have brought my kids over here. They used to do that test on our dining table every night. Whether you wanted them to or not. Yeah absolutely, without my prompting. Yeah. So it was neat. It was very eye opening for me to see the aqua coat finish hold up under those, what I think are pretty extreme conditions.