I applied four coats of oil, satin polyurethane, to a wood desk. I sanded between each coat of poly. The finish is too glossy. How can I tone down the gloss to a satin finish? Has anyone ever used a flat polyurethane?
Generally, a glossy finish can be brought to a 'satin' finish with a fine abrasive, like 0000 steel wool or hand-rubbed with pumice and rottenstone.
Be careful not to be too vigorous in your rubbing or to remain in one spot. All you want to do is to 'knock off' the gloss and to do this evenly across the whole surface. If you are too vigorous or remain in one spot, you will wear a hole in the poly varnish and it will look terrible.
What you should consider is roughing the whole surface with a light sandpaper / steel wool and then do a final layer of a good satin varnish. That way you will be assured of a quality seal and uniform surface.
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