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Home » DIY & Crafts » Furniture » The Easiest Clear Coat for Painted Furniture

The Easiest Clear Coat for Painted Furniture

September 20, 2017 By Amy 4 Comments

20 Sep
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Most recently, I’ve been using a clear coat varnish on my painted furniture pieces, and I am finding that this is the easiest top coat finish I’ve ever used. I’m not going to proclaim it’s the best, or most durable, or the end-all of top coats, but if you are looking for a clear coat finish that is easy to apply, dries fast, with very little mess, then this is one you might want to hear about.

The easiest clear coat varnish I've used for painted furniture | easy top coat fiinish | stowandtellu.com

This post contains affiliate links. Find a full disclosure, here.

It’s called Americana Decor Soft Touch Varnish.

Some of it’s uses include: clear top coat sealer for chalky or acrylic painted furniture and crafts.

What the label says

The description on the label lists the following features:

– Indoor/ outdoor use

– Very durable

– Clear drying

– No strong odor

What I happen to like about it:

There are quite a few things I like about this clear coat finish.

Easy, fast application

For one, it’s super easy to apply. You can use a paint brush, varnish brush, high density foam paint roller or even a craft foam brush.

My favorite way to apply the finish is with a foam paint roller for the first 2 coats (to assure full coverage), followed by a paint or varnish brush for the last coat (for the slightest bit of a brush stroke effect). A small foam craft brush works well for dabbing any excess varnish that gathers near the furniture corners, ends, and so on.

I also like is that it dries really fast which makes it easy to add second and third coats. I applied the top coat on my Anvil Gray dining chairs while in my un-air-conditioned shed, on a fairly humid day, and the finish had dried to the touch within 15 minutes.

The Soft Touch Varnish label suggest waiting 1-2 hours before applying additional coats, where as many varnishes require an 8-24 hour drying time before applying another coat. I can respect the wait-time for a really expensive or vintage piece of furniture, like the Sears and Roebuck dresser we refinished with tung oil, but not every piece I refinish needs that kind of treatment. This varnish is a time saver for a lot of projects that don’t need the age-old style top treatments.

Easiest clear coat furniture finish I've used to date | stowandtellu.com

Just applied

Fast drying and easy to use varnish for painted furniture | stowandtellu.com

15 minutes later and it’s dry to the touch.

Self-leveling properties

Have you heard of self-leveling? Self leveling is when a paint or finish levels itself out after it has been applied, for the purpose of a smoother finish as an end result. If you ever brushed on a varnish and found that you have a bunch of distinct brush marks that continue to show after the product is dry, then you know what a self leveling finish is not. With Soft-Touch Varnish, you can keep brushing back and forth, even while it is drying and those annoying streaks and such will not show up once it’s dry.

easy-furniture-sealer | stowandtellu.com

Non-messy and doesn’t attract lint

One of the problems I’ve had with so many clear top coats is that they seem to be a lint magnet during the application process. It’s like all the floaties that you can’t see in the air turn direction and head for your furniture piece right after you’ve applied the finish.

Not so with this stuff. It’s not goopy, sticky or messy. The consistency looks like glue, but it’s not super sticky to the touch like glue. A few of the bristles from the varnish brush I was using came off onto the finish, and while it was drying, I was able to pick them right off. Then I just ran the wet brush over the area again and the mark was gone.

What I don’t like:

I mostly like everything about this varnish but if there were anything I didn’t like, I’d say that:

1) Because it dries so fast, it’s a little hard to tell if you’ve missed a spot. That is why I like to roll it on with a foam roller (at least for the first few coats.)

2) It is a matte finish. As far as I am aware, it is only available in a matte finish, so if someone is looking for a more gloss and sheen finish, I would not suggest this type of varnish.

Easiest furniture varnish | easy to use clear coat sealer | stowandtellu.com

Re-cap

Indoor and outdoor

Durable

Easy to apply with a variety of application tools

Self-leveling

Dries fast and clear

Not sticky, goopy, messy

Doesn’t attract lint

Low on odor

Matte finish

You can find Soft Touch Varnish at most of the local home improvement stores or find it right here.

Don’t forget to save on Pinterest or share to Facebook for later reference:)

The easiest furniture clear coat varnish | top coat sealer for painted furniture, crafts home decor | Stownadtellu.com

Read: Easy Fix for the Wrong Wood Stain Color on Furniture

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Filed Under: Furniture, Home Decor Tagged With: PAINT and TEXTURE

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Trackbacks

  1. Anvil Gray Chalky Finish Spray Painted Dining Chair Set : Living Room Update | Stow&TellU says:
    October 26, 2017 at 9:36 pm

    […] can see these chairs completed with the varnish coat, and read why I think this is the easiest varnish I’ve ever used, here.  You’ll see they look very similar before and after the top coat was […]

    Reply
  2. Home and Garden Progress from 2017 | Stow&TellU says:
    January 3, 2018 at 6:12 am

    […] painted dining chairs with a what I consider the easiest furniture clear coat I’ve ever […]

    Reply
  3. Ikea Shoe Cabinet Hack as Faux Built-in Hallway Storage | Stow&TellU says:
    February 26, 2018 at 5:56 am

    […] coat is important. I coated the entire piece with 3 coats of DecoArt Soft Touch Varnish. By far the easiest and my favorite top coat for a matte or low sheen […]

    Reply
  4. Chalkboard Painted Baskets | Stow&TellU says:
    March 18, 2018 at 2:15 pm

    […] If you happen to paint your baskets with chalk or chalkboard paint, do remember give the finish a topcoat with this easy to apply water-based varnish or your own favorite top coat.  You can also read about how I used this varnish to topcoat a set of dining chairs, here. […]

    Reply

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