Deft disappearing from shelves

Rennie Heuer

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Constantine, MI
My favorite finish for the past few years has been Deft satin spray lacquer. It dries fast, levels well and provides a clear as a bell finish. Unfortunately it seems to be disappearing from many shelves. I used to be able to buy it at Lowes and HD, but both have stopped carrying it. Neither Rockler nor Woodcraft show it on their websites. Some other sellers have it, but the prices are insane - $15 per can.

I was able to find some at World Paint Supply at $7.99 but their shipping is high. There is a fellow selling 6 packs on ebay for $59.99 with reasonable shipping, $8.95, but $10 per can is about 50% more than I am used to paying.

Does anyone here know of a reliable and reasonable source for Deft? I have tried the Watco and fid it to give a muddy finish - just don't like it.

PS - just looked a bit more into it and it seems that PPG has acquired deft and the borgs have dropped it because of this - not sure how true that id, but pulling information from the PPG site is futile.

Some users on other forums say the minwax product, comparably priced and more widely available, is as good. Anybody here use it?
 
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Rennie, you might check Menards for Watco spray lacquer. I can't compare it to Deft, but I have used a fair amount of it and it's a very good product. Their website shows it at $5.78......of course, it helps if one (Menards) is within reasonable distance.
 
Rennie, you might check Menards for Watco spray lacquer. I can't compare it to Deft, but I have used a fair amount of it and it's a very good product. Their website shows it at $5.78......of course, it helps if one (Menards) is within reasonable distance.

I have tried the WATCO lacquer and I found it to have a muddy dull appearance. Just my opinion, of course, but I think the DEFT had a much better look and feel.

YEP - right here

https://www.amazon.com/Deft-0371250...8&qid=1501326975&sr=8-1&keywords=deft+lacquer

I keep a few cans in stock - order on the last can - never run out

Other brands work well also, but I do like Deft for some reason.

I saw this when doing my search but was just not willing to pay twice as much to Amazon for what I had been getting at HD.

I'm a Deft fan too and noticed the same as you Rennie. Both HD and Lowes used to carry it, but no more. The only place local I can find it is Ace hardware.

Unfortunately, no ACE near me that I know of - still looking.

In the mean time I picked up a few cans of the MINWAX lacquer (available at LOWES) and will be trying that out this weekend. At $8.98 per can its a bit more than I was paying for DEFT at HD, but half of what Amazon wants for it. I'll let you know how it turns out.
 
Before I switched to water based lacquer and other finishes, I always heard that Deft was conventional nitrocellulose lacquer with a small amount of retarder - basically a special formulation of lacquer thinner that reduced the dry time slightly thus reducing the chance of blush (a cloudy finish caused by high humidity). I continued buying generic lacquer because it was cheaper than "name brand" Deft, most often from Sherwin Williams since they were close.

I bought a gallon of retarder that I occasionally added to regular lacquer - a couple teaspoons per quart - so I have two lifetimes supply of retarder.
 
Hmmm. After reading through many of the replies I think I should have mentioned in my initial post that the DEFT lacquer I was looking for was of the rattle can variety. Have not tried the version for my spray equipment but will likely move to waterborne if I do.
 
I have not been able to buy the Deft spray cans here for the last few years, It would be interesting to know the real reason it is not available since it seems that a lot of people are looking for it. I have switched to Behlens and have been satisfied with the results for my small projects. The last Deft that I could find here was from Lowe's and they had five cans so I took it all.
 
This makes me wonder if a small HF air brush set up would be a practical solution to the lack of rattle can availability. Still have the clean up but that is pretty easy with NC lacquer. The bigger question comes with the continuing availability of NC lacquer. Sooner or later, the bullet will have to be bit to switch the waterborne products.
 
I don't know if it is available in your area but, the Minwax (of all brands) gets the nod from a few folks for a substitute. Still priced higher than $5 a can but, it could be worse, you could live in California. Apparently anything with fumes (except gas of course, can't mess with big Petrol and the insurance companies) will soon be no more. I have watched as my favorite finishing products vanish from the shelves, one by one.
 
I don't know if it is available in your area but, the Minwax (of all brands) gets the nod from a few folks for a substitute. Still priced higher than $5 a can but, it could be worse, you could live in California. Apparently anything with fumes (except gas of course, can't mess with big Petrol and the insurance companies) will soon be no more. I have watched as my favorite finishing products vanish from the shelves, one by one.

I purchased a few cans of the minwax lacquer and am working with it now. For the most part it seems to do a good job - for the most part.

I find the nozzle drips (true on three cans so far) so you need to be aware of whats under the can and the possibility that the drip might get caught in the stream and wind up on your workpiece. Also, although it does not have the muddy appearance of the WATCO, I don't think it dries quite as clear as the DEFT. That's just from memory and it may be faulty.

It does seem to build faster, but that could be attributable to its just getting more material through the nozzle faster as I also experienced a few runs on a vertical surface. Either way, an adjustment to technique mitigates the problems.
 
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