Finishing drawers

[Bryan S]

I have read a few places not to finish drawers with an oil based finish mainly because of the off gasing and the smell stays in the drawer for along time. What has been your experiance here?

I was thinking with the rate this project is going it will be 6 weeks (or longer)before I am finished with it. If I go ahead and finish the drawer now and let it set there should be plenty of time for off gasing or should I go ahead and use a waterborne finish.

 

[Canuck]

Bryan,

I made the mistake of putting poly on the inside surface of a drawer for a little cherry shaker table. Even after 2 years, I still have the smell!!!

On a recommendation from someone here at our site, I used shellac on a set of bathroom vanity drawers and they are odorless. Also, the coat of shellac does offer some protection from my daughters toothpaste squeeze-out:rolf:

Just my own experiences.

Wayne

 

[Mike Gilley]

Not sure if this will be of much help or not, but I finished the inside drawers of my coffee table (and end tables) with tung oil. After about 2 years I still get a smell from them when opened, but it isn't a foul odor, is a fairly pleasant scent that reminds me of the red oak they are made from.

Regards,
Mike

 

[Joe Scharle]

I always use spray can shellac.

 

[John Reeves]

Use Shellac or lacquer. Everything else will leave an odor that will get into the cloths or whatever is in the drawer.

 

[JJD]

I pretty much just leave them unfinished and enjoy the natural wood and lack of odor

 

[DaveO]

My wife says I have a problem with off-gassing in my drawers but I haven't noticed it

I would go with either Shellac, Water-based poly or au-natural.
The six week interval is probably long enough to allow an oil-based finish to finish curing and quit stinkin', in an open area with good air movement. But I wouldn't take the gamble.
I finished both sides of a cabinet door with poly, the inside of the cabinet were finished with shellac. I can still smell the poly when I open the cabinet door a year later.
Now that is a challenging area, what do you do with something like that. I needed the protection that the poly offers for a kitchen cab door, and both sides should be finished the same. How do you not introduce the stink into the carcass :dontknow::dontknow::dontknow:


Dave

 

[DavidF]

On the last project (bedside cabs) I used the lacquer top coat on the drawer fronts like the rest of the piece. Hand waxed the outside of the drawer sides and back and didn't finish the inside of the drawers at all. Still a nice feel from the 220G sanding and no smell or problems with staining the contents. Also, so far no problems with unequal moisture absorption in the sides, I assume because of no film finish on the outside.

 

[Howard Acheson]

There are four choices and oil or oil based is not one of them. Oil based off-gases almost forever and an enclosed space concentrates the odor which will permeate cloth or clothing and many other items.

Either leave them unfinished which is the way many drawers are done, or use a waterborne finish or shellac or lacquer. Shellac is my choice with a light sanding with 320 paper for drawers in dressers.

 

[JimD]

I use Resisthane - a water based finish. I sprayed the drawers for my last project, a kitchen island with nothing but drawers. Insides of the drawers got 3 coats.

Jim

 

[jeff...]

Maybe go naked inside the drawers - eastern red cedar is pretty desirable - although some people finish it and that really kinda defeats the purpose.

 

[Gofor]

I have had good luck using the rattle can lacquer for the drawer carcass and interior. It will seal the wood enough to prevent most staining, and the smell goes away quickly (I usually give it a couple days, but 24 hours in the summer is to the point I don't smell it.)

Go

 

[woodguy1975]

Finishing the drawers of a project to me depends on the project. For kitchen cabinet drawers I use lacquer. For fine furniture with piston fit drawers I like to sand the wood up to 800 grit and then wax them.

Good Luck,

John

 

[cpw]

Bryan,

I usually finish my drawers by tumbling them with a dryer sheet for about 20-30 minutes. This takes care of any lingering off-gassing odor. Then fold them neatly and put them away....

Seriously, the only part of drawers I ever finish is the fronts. The only reason I would reconsider and finish the rest would be if I were planning to store something that might spill, like in a kitchen cabinet. Then I guess I'd use shellac.