Cetol finishing products for the home.

[CalebD]

I am not sure if this should be in the 'sails call lounge' forum but it is related to maintenance of a home if not a boat.
I just noticed that a lumber yard in my NY area is carrying a line of Cetol products that are intended for use on the home (see link below).
I asked the 'paint guy' about this and he said that these products had been available for some time but they just started carrying them. I was tempted to pick up a quart but considered that they very well could have a different formulation then the Cetol intended for marine use.
I am planning on re-doing a finishing job on a nice wood entry way for an apartment building. The old poly is flaking and peeling as it gets a lot of sunlight and weather. My first thought was to go with the Cetol marine clear gloss that seems to hold up pretty well with limited maintenance.
Does anyone have any experience (good, bad, indifferent) with these new Cetol products? Is there any reason that using the marine grade Cetol for an exterior land based application does not make sense?
Thanks in advance to those of you who I know work with wood and finishes (Ross, Tony and others).

 

[sailortonyb Allied Mistress 39]

It makes perfect sense.

Using any marine grade finish for exterior land based application makes lots of sense. Most of the marine grade stuff has additional qualities such as abrasion resistance and resistance to salt and fuel which hopefully will never be an issue in the home.
I am not a fan of Cetol, but I guess that could come under the Chevy/Ford type of debate.
I recently used Epiphanes clear gloss finish. It sprays great if that is possible for you. It brushes real well also. It is Bulletproof stuff. Worth investigating.
Another option is a 2 component automobile clear urethane finish. We all know how long that could last.The only difference would be that auto finish is truly clear, in the industry, its sometimes referred to as water white. Most other clear finishes refer to clear which is actually an amber color. Amber color is really more desireable on wood.

Generally speaking, when it comes to chemicals, the more you pay the better the product. Good chemicals just cost money, no escaping that.

Good Luck

Tony B

 

[jimq26]

I have used Cetol for a couple of years on my garden bench.

You know the park bench style with the cast iron ends, and the wood slats for seat & back? A good sanding, 4 coats of cetol (the same new natural teak colour that I use on the boat), and it looks great.
Stands up to the minus 40 to plus 100 degrees temperature range we get here.
Smart people to realize that if their product stands up so well in the marine environment, it will do well around the home.

 

[CalebD]

Thanks guys, that is the kind of feedback I was looking for.

If it holds up well in the marine environment why not on your doorstep?
I am just a little suspicious that the folks at Cetol/Interlux are trying to create a new 'market' for themselves and their land based finishes will not hold up as well as the stuff they have developed for the marine environment (repeat sales etc.).
The main difference in the environment I want to use their marine Cetol clear is that it that the building I intend to refinish is in Brooklyn near lots of car exhaust in the air but also salts used in winter for snow abatement.
There is nothing like trial and error but I wanted to take a poll of what people in the know think before actually trying it.
Thanks Tony and Jim.

 

[kendall]

best way to determine

without spending a dime is to compare the MSDS for each product.

It's not a 'recipe' for the product, but does show proportions of the ingredients.

A recent project started me on an MSDS search for one part polyurethane enamels, and I'd found that there are a ton of them at half the cost that share the same MSDS with some of the most highly recommended boat specific paints.

Ken

 

[sailortonyb Allied Mistress 39]

MSDS

stands for Material Safety Data Sheet.
While true that it shows proportions of chemicals its priumary purpose is for emergency procedures for handling that particular chemical in a safe manner. It includes information on melting point, boiling point, flash point, toxicity, health effects, first aid, reactivity, storage, disposal, protective equipment, and spill handling procedures. It is NOT a product data sheet.
Keep in mind that mixing chemicals can be a complex operation. Its not just a matter of putting everything into a bowl and stirring.
All I can say is that an MSDS sheet is not a good gauge of quality.
The primary factor in keeping a company from screwing the public is their competition. If they charge too much, competition controls it. If its an inferior product, the public soon knows it.


IMHO

Tony B

 

[Warren Milberg]

Cetol...

I don't know about using Cetol in the home, but I have used it on both the interior and exterior of my boat. Inside the boat I used to refinish my salon table and chart rack. Looks great and I doubt I'll ever have to do them again. I would not hesitate to use this product in my home if I had a need for it.

The greatest "problem" I've ever had with Cetol is the same problem I've had with dry vermouth: it is very hard to use it up! I wish Cetol was produced in pint or even half-pint quantities....

 

[jimq26]

Cetol & dry vermouth.

I use dry white vermouth in a lot of my seafood recipes. For example - Dover Sole au Vermouth.
Try it - you'll like it.

 

[kendall]

Regarding an MSDS

Yes the MSDS is intended to provide safety information, but it also provides a yardstick that can be used to compare other products. If you know what the listed ingredients are used for in the product you can compare them and determine relative potentials.
For example, a certain highly regarded coating has soya alkyd listed in the MSDS at 10-25% by weight, a lower cost alternative has it listed at 8-15%.
If you do a search on soya alkyd you come up with:

Soya Alkyd is a very good medium for first quality paint. It has excellent exterior durability, gloss retention, resistance to yellowing and ageing.

so you will be able to determine if performance will be the same, in that case I'd say no because the soya alkyds are what produce the final results I'm after.

Pigments are listed, which will allow you to check them out, many are classed as having low UV resistance, which means that they will sun fade quickly, so that will tell you if you realy want to use it in a fully exposed area.

No, it wasn't meant for product comparison, but provides a good tool for doing so. I've also been known to use screwdrivers to open paint cans, and paintbrushes as miniature brooms

Ken.

 

[sailortonyb Allied Mistress 39]

Product Data Sheets are what should

be used for comparisons and even this is not a really good barometer of quality.
Example: We are both given the same exact cuts of oak boards. Then we are given the same exact nails and screws. Now we will attempt to build a table from the same exact plans.
Difference is, I have greater skills and much better equipment to build this table. I have a table saw and blade that I can actually cut a pencil line in half. You have lesser skills and a cheap tools. I have expensive spray equipment and you have a brush for the finish, which is incidentally the same exact product.
I promise you that these 2 tables wont even be in the same class.
IF we were to make an MSDS, we used the same exact materials, and so we would have the same exact MSDS. In this case there is absolutely no comparison of quality but we have the same specs.
Manufacturing processes come in to play here. And chemical processes involved in paint manufacturing are a whole lot more complicated than building a table.
I'm sorry to disagree with you, but I must.

Tony B

 

[Ross]

Don't forget MSDS is : manufacturers safety

data sheets. It has nothing to do with the quality of the product.