Written By Maggie McGaugh
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Have you ever sanded down a piece to discover the most beautiful natural wood color - only to have it turn yellow or orange once you seal it? Lucky for you, I tried a TON of brands in an experiment to see which one would maintain the perfect color. This does work on real wood and veneer, so you should be covered for all of your projects. Additionally, it’s not a wax-based product, so you don’t have to continually reseal it.
And the winner is…..
General Finishes Flat Out Flat!
What you’ll need for this project:
Your wood furniture (real or veneer!)
A Sander With High Grit (220+)
White Paint
Water
How to seal wood without darkening the natural color:
1. Sand with a very high grit - the higher the better! I used 220 or higher for this project.
2. Clean with Krud Kutter. When it gets wet with the liquid cleaner, the wood will darken. As soon as it dries it will go back to normal.
3. Water down white paint and lightly whitewash the wood. This isn’t 100% necessary, but I recommend it and would do it myself. The sealant will (very, very slightly) darken the wood, but if you whitewash your piece it will help maintain the natural and original color.
4. Use a sponge brush to eliminate brush strokes, and apply the General Finishes Flat Out Flat topcoat. It WILL look darker at first when it’s wet, but don’t panic - as it dries it will lighten! It will also lighten even more overnight.
5. Do as many coats as you think it needs depending on the piece. If it’s a dining room table, you may need as many as three to five coats to protect the surface as much as possible.
If you want to see my full experiment, check out the YouTube video below:
