What is wipe lacquer finish?Technology and characteristics

Basic knowledge of wipe lacquer

When you hear the word lacquer, many people may imagine black or red lacquerware that is coated with lots of colored lacquer. Wiping lacquer is called "wiping lacquer" because it involves applying lacquer to wood and wiping off the excess lacquer, and is one of the easiest lacquer techniques. Because very thin layers of paint are applied, the wood grain is visible and a strong lacquer layer can be obtained.

Characteristics of Mokukondo’s wipe lacquer

As mentioned above, wiping lacquer is a simple lacquer technique, but Kikondo's wiping lacquer requires a lot of effort as shown below.

・Step1…Consolidation

Apply a generous amount of lacquer to the prepared wood and let it absorb, then wipe off the excess lacquer. Since the lacquer has absorbed a lot of lacquer, I will give it some time to dry.

・Step2…Sharpening

Once the lacquer is dry, sand the surface using wet sandpaper. This is a process that smooths out minute irregularities on the skin.

・Step3…Painting

Apply a generous amount of lacquer to the sanded and exposed wood surface, wipe off the excess lacquer, and allow to dry thoroughly.

・Step4…Rust

Using a spatula, spread rust lacquer, which is made by mixing raw lacquer with water and sanding powder, over the entire surface of the wood and fill in the wood's conduits. Do not do this if the conduit is thin and inconspicuous wood.

・Step5…Sharpening

Once the rust lacquer dries, use wet sandpaper to sand off the excess rust lacquer and smooth any minute irregularities on the surface.

・Step6…Painting and polishing

The process of applying lacquer, wiping it off, drying it, and polishing it is repeated about 10 times. At this time, gradually increase the grit of the sandpaper to make the grain of the wood finer.

・Step7…Wipe lacquer

Once the texture of the wood has become finer, repeat the process of ``rubbing it in, wiping it off, and drying it'' 10 to 20 times. If there is foreign matter attached to the paint film and you are concerned about its roughness, you may use very fine wet sandpaper to smooth it out, but in the end, wipe it and finish with lacquer.

A major feature of Mokkondo's wiping lacquer is that it requires a much larger number of steps and is more difficult than regular wiping lacquer.

Why does wipe lacquer bring out the heather grain?

There are parts of wood that absorb lacquer well and other parts that do not absorb lacquer as much, and materials with heathered lacquer have more of them mixed in than normal wood. When raw lacquer dries, it becomes a translucent brownish-brown color, so there will be a difference in the intensity of the color between areas that absorb well and areas that do not absorb as much. As a result, the heather grain becomes more prominent. Wipe lacquer is ideal when you want to finish with the heather grain visible.

Mokukondo's mail order site sells wooden crafts with a wipe lacquer finish. If you are looking for high-quality wooden products, please make sure to choose from Kikkondo's online shopping site.