Satin or Matte that won't shine up?

[madmaskbass]

This thread is bad news for me as i love dark matte finishes but it has confirmed some of my recent choices. Ihad a matte black poly finished spector that was getting shiny after 2 years on the arm area no I defs know the issue. I have a real phobia/aversion type thing to steel wool..even thinking about the stuff makes my bones scream lol. Just the way it feels truly makes me shudder so steel wool is a no go lol. I use the white scotch pads which are great. I wanted to do a matte black bass but have since decided to go with Osmo and deep black stain as it gets a nice pretty satin matte look really easily that will stay like that. I can live with the differences between paint seeing as Osmo is like the easiest finish in the whole world to apply and get nice.

 

[JeezyMcNuggles]

All my satin or matte instruments have eventually shined up in spots that get touched a lot. People would always say that was just the way it was. These were all cheaper/midrange priced guitars and basses, so I wondered about the possibility of the finishes just not being good enough.

I do remember hearing or reading somewhere quite awhile back that there were satin/matte finishes that would not shine up. I don't remember specifics like what they actually were or who was using them, I wasn't super interested in finishing or building back then. Now I am doing some of my own building, so I'm curious how or truly if this problem can be resolved.

Thanks for any thoughts!

Well, think of your fingerprints as sand paper. You're pretty much sanding your satin finish with 10,000 grit sand paper. Eventually, its gonna shine up.

 

[rudy4444]

This thread is bad news for me as i love dark matte finishes but it has confirmed some of my recent choices. Ihad a matte black poly finished spector that was getting shiny after 2 years on the arm area no I defs know the issue. I have a real phobia/aversion type thing to steel wool..even thinking about the stuff makes my bones scream lol. Just the way it feels truly makes me shudder so steel wool is a no go lol. I use the white scotch pads which are great. I wanted to do a matte black bass but have since decided to go with Osmo and deep black stain as it gets a nice pretty satin matte look really easily that will stay like that. I can live with the differences between paint seeing as Osmo is like the easiest finish in the whole world to apply and get nice.

The Liberon brand 0000 steel wool is in a class by itself and doesn't have the feel of the hardware store stuff.

The white 3M pads are always suggested but my problem with them is they have obvious "lumps" in the pad that make it a little trickier to evenly abrade a surface with them. I have them in the shop but they aren't my first choice. It's a bit like crumpling up a sheet of sandpaper before using it. Sure, it might be 600 grit, but it's difficult to hit the surface with uniform contact with those white pad "lumps".

If you are going to use the Osmo hard oil make sure to research the use of Osmo post-staining. Since it bonds with the actual cells of the wood you may have difficulty with it penetrating and/or locking to wood that has been stained. I'd think any oil-based stain would be particularly troublesome.

 

[Tim Barber]

Well, think of your fingerprints as sand paper. You're pretty much sanding your satin finish with 10,000 grit sand paper. Eventually, its gonna shine up.

One of the smoothest things I have ever felt was the top of a stone stalagmite in a tourist-accessible cave. It was right at the base of the entrance stairs and every person who ever went in there must have touched it.

 

[JeezyMcNuggles]

One of the smoothest things I have ever felt was the top of a stone stalagmite in a tourist-accessible cave. It was right at the base of the entrance stairs and every person who ever went in there must have touched it.

Makes sense. Especially with skin oils. Makes like a wet sand. Again, veryveryveryvery fine wet sand