talk to me about hypoallergenic finishes

Josh Rickun

Member
Messages
7
hi all
I've been making eye glasses and finishing them with Salad Bowl Finish. Looks great, guaranteed to be completely non-toxic when cured, they use it to finish wood toys, so I don't have to worry about it irritating anyone's face. But it smells like finish which is something I'd like to avoid.

Here's what I'm looking for:
  • hypoallergenic/non-toxic
  • minimal "finish" look
  • protects the wood from face's oils
  • minimal odor
  • clear

any suggestions?
 
Hi,
Shellac or Seal Coat (which is de-waxed shellac). I do not know about hypoallergenc as far as skin goes. However, they do coat pills, chocolate candies and a bunch of other stuff with it. It stays clear. It is easy to apply. If damaged by a scrape, abrasion, etc., it is very easily repaired (wipe it with DNA). It does not yellow.

Check it out on the web. Glenn uses it a lot and is more familiar with it than I am.

I have never tried it but I wouldn't be surprised if you couldn't repair an abrasion with a soft cloth and whiskey.

I'm not sure it is worth 2 cents, but that's my 2 cents worth.

Enjoy,
JimB
 
I'd suggest using a water-based polyurethane. It will be more durable, it'll also be non-toxic when cured*, and it won't have the "finish" smell that oil based polys (like Salad Bowl Finish) do. Personally, I'd not use shellac. Although it's non-toxic when cured, it's not as durable as poly. Also, I suspect skin oils would shorten it's life even more.




* In my opinion (and I realize some will disagree), the "non-toxic" aspect of Salad Bowl Finish is nothing more than marketing. Virtually all modern film finishes are non-toxic when cured. As far as I can tell, the only difference between Salad Bowl Finish and regular oil-based poly (that's been thinned) is that the manufacturer has paid some lab somewhere to test it and certify that it's non-toxic.
 
thanks for the insight. Being from Milwaukee, I'm going to try out some General Finishes water-based poly tomorrow.

lot of good info on this site, but also a lot of really good avatars.
 
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