I assume you are referring to the Gloss sheen level, which indeed is a little tricky to spray without bubbles (sheen levels Satin and Matte don't have this problem). You need a spray gun that allows for proper atomization at very low air pressure of around 15 PSI and a needle size of 0.8 to 1.3mm. Other than that, polishing is your best bet to eliminate small bubbles. Wet sand with 1500 and then 3000 grid and then use a polisher with wool pad and a good polishing compound.

​​@@MyWoodCutters-ur8vn I'm actually having the bubble issue with the satin one. This is also why I don't want to polish the bubbles out because I don't want to make the finish glossy.

Clean Armor adheres well to all kinds of other wood finishes for as long as these are fully cured and dry. Note that the indicated drying time by many manufacturers is more a statement of when the product can be put to use, but full and thorough curing often takes much longer. I personally would not apply Clean Armor over anything that is not at least 1 month old. In any case, the manufacturer is unable to test this on all possible other finishes out there on the market, so always do your own tests before applying this to your projects.

The main thing with Clean Armor that is different from other finishes is that it cures on demand with a UV light instead of evaporation of the solvents. This means that everything else is pretty much the same as with other finishes. You have to take the same care to prevent runners and drips on the bottom. In fact, you really have a huge advantage here. With traditional finishes, you often think everything looks good and you walk away and when you return, you notice some runners have formed in your absence that now are dry. With Clean Armor, this cannot happen. You simply only turn the UV light on when you like what you see to "freeze it in place". When I finish flat pieces with the edges along, I only do one side at a time and include all 4 edges. After that, I turn it around and repeat. This means I finish the edges twice and for that reason, I apply very thin coats here. I mainly do spray application which makes this much easier.

@@MyWoodCutters-ur8vn OK. I think I understand. Top and edges. Flip it over and do the other side and the edges again. Thank you for your response!

Yes, of course...

All Clean Armor products offer enough flexibility to move with the wood for normal expansion and contraction under normal indoor climates. The outdoor wood finish 705 has additional softeners for added flexibility under outdoor climates.

You can use any stain you like. You just have to make sure the stain has completely dried before applying Clean Armor!

@ that’s exactly what I thought I had remembered being told, but, wanted to confirm. I appreciate the response! And I will be shopping for a helical planer cutter shortly, as well! Thank you.!

I noticed the developer using a squeegee on some cutting boards? I can’t mine to harden up.. Why

In 99% of all cases where the Clean Armor does not cure is actually the opposite of what you suspected. You likely applied the coat too thin. Traditional finishes such as hard wax oils require that you use a clean cloth and remove all excess of material, then use another clean cloth and repeat, until there is nothing left to be wiped off. If you are using this technique with Clean Armor, it will not cure as it needs an average coat thickness of 1 mill (1/1000") to cure properly. After applying the finish with a cloth, let it sit for a couple of minutes to soak into the wood. Then use the same wet application cloth again to wipe over and to even out the finish, but not to remove it.

Yes, absolutely! You can use any stain (water or solvent based), but you need to make sure your stain is completely dry before applying Clean Armor!

Yes, "too thick" is the most common reason for unsatisfactory results. Clean Armor is 100% solids where nothing evaporates where traditional finishes have only 30% solids at best and the rest are solvents that will evaporate. Therefore, it is important to apply only 1/3 as much of what you are used to apply with traditional finishes. Also, Clean Armor will not start curing until it sees the UV light. Therefore, you can take your time to wipe it even as long as you need. Only when you like what you see, you turn the UV light on (or take it outside to cure in daylight) to "freeze it" in place. If the bubble you mention only appear while you are curing with the UV light, then the UV light is too strong. Clean Armor gently heats up while curing and the closer you hold the light, the hotter it gets and this can cause all sorts of problems. If you hold the light too close, Clean Armor may be fully cured within 10 seconds, but the results are not satisfactory. Move your light further away until you find the right distance where Clean Armor cures within 90 to 120 seconds! The proper distance for the CUVO handheld lights is around 2 feet! The ceiling mounted CUVO light should be 4 to 5 feet above the work piece. If that is not possible, use the included dial to weaken the light output!

Yes, the product line Wood 705 has been developed for exterior coatings and offers UV protection to prevent the wood from turning grey. It also use softeners to make the finish more flexible to move with the wood when it expands and contracts during the seasons. Having said that, you still need to finish your exterior projects indoors as the daylight will cure Clean Armor within 2 minutes and ruins your product when you just open the bottle outdoors. If you cannot move your projects indoors, you can finish outdoors only at night.

You obviously cannot pour some material onto vertical surfaces, so you take some onto your applicator tool (preferably a wrapped sponge like a stain applicator) and wipe it onto the surface. Once you have the entire surface wet, you wipe over it again to even it out. Repeat until you like what you see and the turn the UV light on to cure.

Yes, you can also finish vertical surfaces. You may have to apply a little thinner to avoid runners. In any case, you are always in full control. If you see any runners, wipe over again. Only when you like what you see, you turn on the UV light to freeze it in place. Working on outdoor projects at night is always safe. There is no UV light coming from the stars and even from a full moon.

Clean Armor can get thinned and cleaned with Isopropyl Alcohol. For thinning, use at least a 99% strength while for cleaning, 70% strength is sufficient.

Yes, of course you can finish stained wood with Clean Armor. However, the stain must be completely dried before applying Clean Armor.

The 750 and 757 is best applied by wipe on in very thin coats and this will avoid brush strokes. Also, the 750 and 757 is a two coat finish with one coat each, so I don't understand why you put oil down first and I have no experience with this to further advise. There is a dedicated video for this product line and the application. This product is not supposed to be sanded much (other than very fine with 320 or 400 grit to remove wood grains that are standing up after getting wet with the first coat). You are in full control as Clean Armor does not cure while you still try to level it out. Cure it with the UV light as soon as you like what you see to freeze it in place and do not cure before that, in hopes to sand away any errors later. At this point, you can try to sand it with fine paper to see what happens. Another coat of 757 will be necessary.

Since Clean Armor produces all products in very large batches from which individual orders are bottled, it is very unlikely that you have received a “bad production batch” since we do not have any other similar customer complaints from customers that received their product from the same batch. Your experiences are difficult to understand and guide without standing next to you. Clean Armor has good self levelling abilities but often not to the point that it completely self levels because that would require a viscosity level that would make it next to impossible to apply Clean Armor on vertical surfaces without runners. It does require some patience and proper application tools and techniques to level the product perfectly, and everyone has different preferences. My personal preference is a microfiber applicator. Also, remember that Clean Armor is 100% solids where other finishes are at best 30% solids and 70% solvents. Therefore, you need to apply clean Armor with about 1/3 thickness as what you are used with other finishes. You are in full control of Clean Armor as it does not start curing while you are still trying to level it out. Simply do not turn the light on before you like what you see. If the bubbles you mention start appearing while curing, then you are too close with your UV light which will boil the Clean Armor. Clean Armor does heat up while curing and that process can indeed force embedded air to the surface while curing. It often helps to rub the sealer deep into the wood with some force. Most importantly, have you tried working with different wood species or just one? Sometimes, specific wood species (especially oily ones) can be more difficult to finish. Please note this is a comment section on KZbin. For more support, please contact us directly per email with your contact info that enables us to look up your order history.

I’ve been using it as recommended by wiping, paint pad, and even tried spray finish and having similar results. It’s just meh final results with significant gaps diving into the open grain even if there’s a cured layer underneath. Not sure what to do about it.

@@MyWoodCutters-ur8vn Thank you for the response. I'd like to clear one thing up about the bubbles. They seem to appear prior to curing, even with a very thin wipe on layer. (NOTE: The sealer does not do this) Also, as for the exothermic process, I've experimented with distance of the light source after an initial curiosity test, just it out of the box (so to speak) and hitting it with a UV flashlight. We noted the rapid cure and the destabilized nature of the product (it was gloss btw). So, that's remained top of mind. As for the woods. Started with a box store 'select pine', then a maple project (hard wood, not ply veneer), some red cedar ship lap, and most recently, a very expensive and large slab of rainbow poplar. I promise, I REALLY want to make this work because I like making dust, and I like the final results of a beautiful finish, but, I don't like the time wasted between coats. Thanks again for any insight.

My shop was also in the low 70's for temperature. If it does not self level properly for you, you can always thin it down with Isopropyl Alcohol (must be at least 99% pure) at a rate of up to 15% alcohol to 85% Clean Armor. However, application technique is also very important. Remember to apply as thin as possible (1mil thickness per coat). I do prefer spray application, but when applying by hand, stain applicators with microfiber surface work best. You are in full control here as you simply do not cure before you like what you see. (unlike other finishes, it will not start to cure while you are still trying to wipe over again to even it out). While I never tried, many customers reported that sponge brushes do not provide good results with Clean Armor, so stay away from these.

The product line "Wood 705" is designed for exterior projects and offers UV blockers to prevent the wood from turning grey over the years.

Awesome, so the other 700 series sealers don’t have any blockers? Such as the 750 tabletop sealer?

@@MasonBivens-lo2nt None of the sealers use UV blockers, only the 705 top coat (for which you can use the 710 Sealer)

You can certainly do that. I just found it is easier to spread with a brush first.

In between coats, I always sand with 320 grit. However, if the 230 grain filler is not spread evenly enough, it helps to first sand it with 240 grit and then again with 320 before applying the finish.

Not at all! When Clean Armor is cured, it is cured and has no problems with further exposure to UV light. The only risk with curing is "boiling" the product, which can happen with UV lights that are too strong. Wrinkles and other problems can occur. The CUVO lights are purpose developed to cure Clean Armor properly. Daylight works just as well (even on cloudy days). When using daylight, you need to apply Clean Armor indoors and then take it outside to cure!

A UV light with a frequency between 365 and 400 nm is a must to cure Clean Armor products. These lights also must operate in low energy with a range of 1 to 3 milliwatts light output per square centimeter. Only the CUVO lights are made to these specifications. Many UV lights on the market (such as party or black lights) do work in the correct frequency but are simply to strong and tend to “boil” Clean Armor when curing. This can lead to problems such as wrinkles in the finish. Any other LED lights (including so called full spectrum lights) will take no effect as you can apply these finishes in your shop under normal (including LED) interior lights. If you mostly work with small projects that are easy to carry, you can apply the finish in your shop and then take the projects outside to cure as normal daylight (even on cloudy days) will cure the products within about 2 minutes.

The sealer soaks a little deeper into the wood and cures a little harder to build a solid platform for the top finish, but it is not mandatory. With the top coat alone, you can achieve a beautiful finish that is built to last. We usually give the following advice: A bottle of 1 quart finishes up to 400 square feet per coat. For the 700 and 705 product line, most common applications will require 3 coats, and therefore, one bottle will finish up to 133 square feet total. The 757 product line usually only requires 2 coats, so one bottle will yield a total of up to 200 square feet. If you only have a single project that is smaller, then only order the appropriate top coat. If you have more to finish and need more than one bottle anyways, then order and use the sealer along.

@@MyWoodCutters-ur8vn Thank you for the reply. I'm having trouble curing the topcoat on a couple exotics - particularly bloodwood and cocobolo. I suspect the oil in these woods is an issue. I have no trouble with domestics and other more typical exotics like mahogany. I'm using cuvo 100uva. Do you think the sealer would solve my problem?

@@ritzypatrick8577 Yes, you will have better success with the sealer, but it still requires some extra attention when dealing with these oily woods. When you prepare your wood for finishing and have it sanded, before you apply the Clean Armor, wipe it down with Isopropyl Alcohol to remove any oil excess from the surface. Then blow it down with compressed air to drive the oils back into the wood pores. When you are applying the first coat of Clean Armor, chances are that the surface still appears tacky. When the Clean Armor is curing under the UV light, it produces some heat and that heat drives some of the oils to the surface again before the Clean Armor completely cures. In most cases, you have the Clean Armor completely cured, but a thin layer of oil on top of it may make it appear as if the Clean Armor has not fully cured. In this case, wipe it down with Alcohol, then give it a fine (320 grit) sanding, and apply another coat, and you should be fine...

@@ritzypatrick8577 Clean Armor works well with all wood species. However, when working with oily wood species, using the sealer (710 as sealer for 700 and 705 products and sealer 750 for 757 products) is highly recommended. Before applying the first coat, wipe the wood down with Isopropyl Alcohol (at least 70% strong). The sealer soaks deeper into the wood and cures harder to build a solid surface for the finish. While it is curing, it produces some heat and this will oftentimes push some oils to the surface. For this reason, the surface may appear as if the Clean Armor did not fully cure under the UV light. If this happens, wipe it down with Alcohol again and give it a gentle 320 grit sanding, and then apply a second coat of sealer.

@@MyWoodCutters-ur8vn thank you!

I never played with powder tints but expect they would work fine. Liquid tints work great for as long as you use solvent based (not oil or water based) tints. Remember that tinting will extend the time to cure with UV lights (the darker the color, the longer it takes to cure).

For endgrain cutting boards, you most likely want to achieve a very smooth surface and if so, you want to start with the 730 grain filler instead of the sealer. Please note that Clean Armor products do not have any HAP and VOC and therefore, are fairly safe. However, they have tried, but did not receive FDA approval for cutting boards and similar products. The products cure to an extremely hard material, that when cut into with a sharp knife, repeated cuts will result in fine slivers of the finish that eventually may break free and mix into food. When consumed, they may be dangerous not on a poisonous level, but rather physical… For any other products, such as serving trays or wooden goblets and bowls , the product does waterproof the wood and is also safe.

@stejud so which product version will you recommend to apply on painted wood

Yes, Clean Armor adheres well to all kinds of previous wood finishes (including polyurethane) for as long as these are fully cured and prepared to receive another finish.

It gives the end product a more even coat since raw wood is porous and soaks up the finish differently across the board. I believe the clean armor sealer is a little thinner than the final coats.

The Clean Armor 705 product line is designed to withstand the elements for a very long time. The company itself is fairly young and can “only” look back on 5 years of experience. They have done extensive exterior projects about 5 years ago which are exposed to the harshest outdoor elements year round and these still stand up strong after almost 5 years. The manufacturer estimates that a refinish may be necessary every 7 years. For more Q&A, please check mywoodcutters.com/CleanArmorFAQ

i have a uv machine can i use the gloss over epoxy for countertops

@@suspensefulness Yes, Clean Armor adheres well to epoxy, for as long as your epoxy is fully cured.

@@MyWoodCutters-ur8vn and its scratch resistant as well ??

For answers to this, and many more questions, please check our FAQ: mywoodcutters.com/CleanArmorFAQ