# lenmar quick stains



## cocomonkeynuts (Apr 14, 2017)

OK so all this time I have been carrying oldmasters, and several other shops in town also carry these, and I don't know much about lenmar. 

30 min top coat +2 hour rapidseal??? Hard to believe until I tried it my self.

Is anyone else using these products? Before I pull the trigger to swap out my stains I would like to hear some product feedback... I have only used a few brands of polyurethane but I'm kind of shocked how well this stuff layed down for me. I used a 4.5" microplush

sample board I did on some scrap Alder. sand to 150grit, 30 seconds quick stain spanish oak, 3 coats lenmar polyurethane satin, worn out 220 sponge between coats. Working on another board preconditioned with benite, definitely reduced the blotchiness.


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## Center_line_Painting (Jun 4, 2017)

I had a cabinet thread early this year...or late last?.....where I refinished some cabinets with aquaplastic. I had the thread up because they were damaged with oven cleaner. Serious work.

Nothing special with Lenmar but not bad...price was right. Here, locally in NJ, it's used in some casinos for furniture. At least that's what my rep told me. 

Other users here promote the lenmar WB lacquers...they're on my to do list.


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## cocomonkeynuts (Apr 14, 2017)

The only thing 'special' about is 30min top coat paired with a fast dry universal sanding sealer. While old masters is 8-12 hours.

How does aquaplastic compare to staysclear? The Lenmar brand is relatively unknown in these parts...


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## Center_line_Painting (Jun 4, 2017)

ahh, yeah that dry time...since I'm used to it it was nothing special to me. I'm young, so oils haven't been so much a part of my inventory. acrylics have always worked well for me....hell, I just put an acrylic semi transparent stain on a mahogany deck and I know it'll hold up
<<<<defy hardwood stain<<<<

Not to say acrylics have priming and stain blocking down though. 

anyway, Aquaplastic and stays clear are basically the only stuff I have local access to (besides minwax and old masters). --basic rule---BM stays clear for flooring and seriously hard (and glossy) surfaces----aquaplastic for everything else. 

stays clear has more risk in terms of a milky finish. I take precautions like fans, temperature control, thinner coats.... I don't sweat it with the aquaplastic. Like i mentioned, I'd trust it on cabinetry, furniture, other woodwork, but not for flooring....even though my rep said it would likely be fine in low traffic areas.


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## cocomonkeynuts (Apr 14, 2017)

Center_line_Painting said:


> ahh, yeah that dry time...since I'm used to it it was nothing special to me. I'm young, so oils haven't been so much a part of my inventory. acrylics have always worked well for me....hell, I just put an acrylic semi transparent stain on a mahogany deck and I know it'll hold up
> <<<<defy hardwood stain<<<<
> 
> Not to say acrylics have priming and stain blocking down though.
> ...



What are you finding as far as application for aquaplastic vs staysclear?


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## Mr Smith (Mar 11, 2016)

Center_line_Painting said:


> ahh, yeah that dry time...since I'm used to it it was nothing special to me. I'm young, so oils haven't been so much a part of my inventory. acrylics have always worked well for me....hell, I just put an acrylic semi transparent stain on a mahogany deck and I know it'll hold up
> <<<<defy hardwood stain<<<<
> 
> Not to say acrylics have priming and stain blocking down though.
> ...


How do you apply the Lenmar Aqua plastic to doors and trim? By airless? Would that make a good protective coating over something like Breakthrough? or will it give the finish a plastic look?

I watched a video of a painter who topped BM Advance with a coat of 'Stays Clear' a couple of days after spraying the Advance. I wonder how the BM Advance will cure properly with poly sealing it up. Advance takes a lot of time to cure. The painter used it (by brush) it on a staircase railing only and not on the banisters.


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## Center_line_Painting (Jun 4, 2017)

I haven't really encountered the need to use a poly on any doors or trim over paint (instead of stain). Typically I'm whizzing on some proclassic or regal select semi to those. If I'm spraying I'll use breakthrough, but that's extremely rare. I guess if I were very concerned about durability I would use scuff-x.

I don't really think putting poly on top of paint is a common practice among professionals for a reason. unless you want a kind of plasticy clear look over top of paint. I've done it once and that was before scuff-x was getting headway in the field. It was on a kitchen island where ppl could kick it...it had poor lighting and I just brushed and whizzed on some stays clear over top of satin proclassic latex. looked fine, good. in that scenario. 

If it's not cabinets, I'm typically brush and rolling the aquaplastic and stays clear. I really like the cheap proform brushes for that kind of work....I swear they're like the best brushes out there...so soft (just let them dry fully when washing them before packing them up)
https://www.amazon.com/Proform-C2-5...&qid=1526943972&sr=8-2&keywords=proform+brush

Otherwise I stick to my capspray for the cabinets. I imagine most painters that get big projects with poly would require a remote pot kind of hvlp set up rather than airless. Idk, maybe you could dial in the airless right, I'm just partial to hvlp because I'm a small business. 

in terms of stays clear vs. aquaplastic with the application...the only big difference is with the milkyness I mentioned. I can put the aquaplastic down a little heavier and not sweat it. I honestly don't do tons of that kind of work, but I know I can count on those two products to meet whatever quality/integrity/production needs I have. Since I've only brushed stays clear (not spray) I can't comment on this vs. that in terms of encountering runs. No problems with runs with aquaplastic.....

I did encounter microbubbling on the first two coats of aquaplastic sprayed. I was scared. But, third coat was solid. Perfect. I've only sprayed it once so I can't speak on how batches differ, all the other variables we encounter.


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## fauxlynn (Apr 28, 2011)

cocomonkeynuts said:


> How does aquaplastic compare to staysclear? The Lenmar brand is relatively unknown in these parts...


I've been using both of these products about 90% of the time since 1997. My former employer had us crew people urethane about 99% of everything we did. They raked in a million plus a year for a good part of twenty plus years.

Anyway, Lenmar bought Coronado, at least in Baltimore. I was assured by my guys at Budeke's that as far as they knew the formulas remain the same.

I've put Aquaplastic over walls and trim, doors. I've applied it over oil glaze, latex glaze,oil paint, water based paint. I've only seen it fail once, recently,over a really heavy oil infused glaze I applied at the Moroccan Embassy in DC.

I've rolled both, brushed both, used paint pads and sponges.

I can only speak to my own work;we would always reserve Stays Clear for any finishes that were dark. But, just as Aquathane, I've applied it successfully over oil, latex,etc,etc. We found that we couldn't count on Coronado/ Lenmar to NOT cloud up. 
As far as sheens, luckily, Stays Clear comes in a low lustre which I found comparable to the dull of Aquaplastic. I find the satin sheens leave wood grained doors, cabinetry, etc, looking fake and cheap. Like plastic. 

I recently did a re stain of kitchen cabinets and was so unnerved by the home owner repeatedly questioning my non use of a catalyzed clear coat( I don't spray), that instead of Stays Clear, I used Varnish Plus. I was pleased how well it did NOT cloud. I wouldn't trust anything other than these two over anything dark.
Just my two cents, take it or leave it.


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## Center_line_Painting (Jun 4, 2017)

Great to hear from someone with tons of experience with that stuff! Only a single customer in the last year I've come across wanting to keep the wood look on trim and cabinets. And I didn't take that job. 

Odd that we have opposite experiences with the clouding. do you lay on the stays clear thick ever? or just multiple thin coats like normal?


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## fauxlynn (Apr 28, 2011)

I usually put two coats. I’ve never had an issue with Stays Clear, I don't know why. 

The only thing I can think of in respect to the Aquaplastic is since I don’t use it anymore for dark surfaces how would I know that it works now? Glad it works for you.


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## cocomonkeynuts (Apr 14, 2017)

I only heard one issue with stays clear clouding up. It was floor application and it clouded up near the dishwasher where it was more humid. I just wish it would have better leveling for brush/roll application. The Lenmar oil polyurethane lays down like glass.


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