Hand Rubbing:

This term refers to a technique for finishing wood products.  Our boxes are finished here at Johnny's Checkered Boxes as follows:

1. Apply Sanding Sealer
2. Sand with 320 Grit Wet/Dry
3. Apply Sanding Sealer (2nd coat if necessary)
4. Sand with 320 Grit Wet/Dry
5. 1st coat of Minwax's Clear Gloss Polyurethane Varnish
6. Sand with Water and Wet/Dry 400 Grit
7. 2nd Coat of Polyurethane Varnish
8. Sand with Olive Oil and Wet/Dry 400 Grit
9. 3rd Coat of Polyurethane Varnish
10. Sand with Olive Oil and Wet/Dry 600 Grit
11. Sprinkle on Behlen 2F Pumice Stone B720-1402 and Olive Oil and rub with soft cotton cloth..
12. Sprinkle on Behlen 4F Pumice Stone (B720-1404) and Olive Oil and Rub with (another) soft cotton cloth.

Occasionally one or more of the steps is unnecessary and skipped, depending on how the box looks.   Occasionally some of the steps are repeated - depending on how the finish is looking.  Another step that is sometimes added is to hand rub with Behlen Rottenstone and Olive Oil.

We generally use Minwax's Clear Gloss Polyurethane, although we have used other types.  Sometimes a customer prefers a SATIN finish rather than "High Gloss", so we substitute for Minwax's Satin finish.