clear coat

(I am kind of writing this so i can remember, but i thought you may benefit from it as well.)

you guys are crazy. the clear coat was a breeze. no joke.

i used minwax polycrylic semigloss waterbased protective finish (it comes in a blue/green can for about $16). it goes on creamy but dries crystal clear. it has a magical property that self-levels, so as you paint it on it levels out for an even finish.

as for my technique, i used as few strokes as possible and did lots of thin coats. I also sanded (using grain 180 at first then switching to 330 grain...next time i would just use 220 but I didnt want to go to the store again) between coats to minimize any residual brush strokes. looks good. thanks for freaking me out about this.

fyi- i did find that if i used too many brush strokes, i would get bubbles but with a little sanding and more coats you would never notice. also, i did get some obnoxious fibers that liesl mentioned to me. i just got them with my finger as i went along and washed my brush out more frequently than with paint.