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How to Get a Streak-Free Tough Coat Finish

I love Fusion Mineral Paint, and though it doesn’t need an extra top coat or sealer, there are times when you may want or need one. For instance if you’re doing a decoupage paper on a piece of furniture, the paper needs a protective top coat. That’s where Fusion Tough Coat comes in. (all the products I used in this post will have easy shopping links grouped together at the end of this post)

To get a streak-free finish using Tough Coat or any other water based poly can be tricky. I have found a secret to putting it on and it really works beautifully to create a streak-free finish.

My experience is that if the water based finish goes on too thick, it actually dries on the top before the bottom can dry, trapping in the moisture and creating a cloudy or steaked finish. Applying with a standard paint brush is easily going to lead to it going on too thick… and because it dries quickly, if you try to go back over it with the brush to remove it or spread it out, you’ll mess up the smooth finish.

The answer to avoid that headache and create a beautifully smooth finish with Tough Coat is so easy!

This method of applying Tough Coat has worked very well for me going over both light and dark colors.

Here are the steps for the Tough Coat streak-free finish:

First of all, DO NOT SHAKE IT!

To mix up Tough Coat, it’s very important that you do not shake it, that will introduce bubbles into it and they can dry in your finish.

Instead, roll it gently,

and turn it upside down and roll a little more. It doesn’t really take all the much to mix up.

The applicator is important in this steak-free application method!

I use the Fusion Applicator Pads. They are lint free terry type fabric over a sponge and really work great.

First I get it wet with clean water.

Next, I wring as much water back out of it as I can,

leaving an evenly damp, (not wet) applicator pad.

Using a small clean tray, I pour in some Tough Coat. (Tough Coat is available in both gloss and matte finish.)

I dip in the bottom half of one side of the applicator pad, evenly coating the pad with the Tough Coat.

Then I scrape the excess off the pad on the side of the tray:

This leaves very little Tough Coat visible on the pad.

To apply it to the piece of furniture, like on this desk that I have a decoupage paper and blended Fusion Mineral Paint treatment on,

I start on one end and wipe all the way across,

to the other end.

It seems like I’m not putting any finish on the piece of furniture, but it is, just in a very thin coat.

I just keep going, working quickly so that the pad doesn’t touch the finish once it starts to dry.

If I see I missed a spot, I just leave it until the next coat.

I like to wait several hours, or even overnight is better, to let each layer dry super well before adding an additional thin layer in the same way. For most projects that require Tough Coat, like decoupaged papers, I like to do 3 layers.

Here is the finished decoupage paper and blended paint top. Because this desk is going in the bedroom that my grandkids use, I put on 5 coats of Tough Coat to really protect it.

Just to show you it can be done on dark colors too,

here it is on the dark Fusion Mineral Painted piece done in ‘Ash’. Same exact way of applying the Tough Coat. I did add the Tough Coat finish to the entire dresser just so the sheen would match the front that needed a finish applied. The front of this antique dresser has a decoupage paper on it. This is another example of the blended paint treatment. The paper is only about 2/3 of the width of the dresser, so the rest is blended with Fusion Mineral Paints to soften where the paper ends. (same blending idea as on the desk above)

Would you like to learn more about decoupage and blending paint to finish it?

This fun rustic poppy tray is a DIY Workshop Class at the Frame and Frills shop workroom. Everything you need, start to finish, to complete your own tray is provided. The actual paper ends a couple inches shy of the edges so I show you how to add paints and blend into the papered part. It so fun! Makes you feel like an artist. This ‘blending method’ added to decoupaged paper can really create a masterpiece on your piece of furniture!

Here are the current workshops I have going on in the Frame and Frills studio shop workshop located in New Richmond, WI.

Every few weeks I add a few more dates and different classes. I also am very open to creating a class and time that suits you! If you have a group of 3 or 4 people that want to take a workshop class, we can set a specific date that works for your schedules. We can set up a different class like the BYOP class. If you’re interested, be sure to contact me so we can set something up!

Here are the products I used to create a streak-free Tough Coat finish:

  • Tough Coat Gloss
  • Tough Coat Matte
  • Applicator Pad

Please feel free to follow and share this blog with your friends, as well as on Facebook, Pinterest, Flipboard, Bloglovin, YouTube and Instagram! I appreciate you reading along. Be sure to pop over to my business site Frame and Frills and see all the possibilities for your next, (or maybe even first!) DIY project!

To read more painting tips check out some of these other posts I’ve written:

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Painting Concrete with Fusion Mineral Paint
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Welcome to Simple Decorating Tips! I’m Liz, the author, and I’m so glad you’re here!

My goal is to encourage you with DIY tips, techniques and tutorials so you feel empowered to join in the fun! Along with this DIY blog, I have a DIY shop, Frame and Frills!
Frame and Frills is in Wisconsin. I stock amazing DIY products! Fusion Mineral Paints, ReDesign Transfers, Decoupage, Waxes, loads of DIY Goodies, re-done Furniture and more! Even if you're not close to where the shop is in Wisconsin, good news... I ship nationwide, (USA) daily! Check out the link here and let's get your DIY on!
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Welcome to Simple Decorating Tips! I'm Liz, the author, and I'm so glad you're here! My goal is to encourage you with DIY tips, techniques and tutorials so you feel empowered to join in the fun! Along with this DIY blog, I have a DIY shop, Frame and Frills!
Frame and Frills is in Wisconsin. I stock amazing DIY products! Fusion Mineral Paints, ReDesign Transfers, Decoupage, Waxes, loads of DIY Goodies, re-done Furniture and more! Even if you're not close to where the shop is in Wisconsin, good news... I ship nationwide, (USA) daily! Check out the link here and let's get your DIY on!


Disclosure Policy: According to FTC guidelines, I want you to be aware that some of the content of this blog may be a source of income and therefore may be used to promote products, services, or other businesses. I will only choose to promote products/services/businesses that I feel will be beneficial to my readers. While I hope to generate a small profit for my time and effort to create this blog, I hold myself to the highest standard of integrity. I appreciate my readers, and make it my goal to deliver quality, honest material on this blog through each post. Thanks for reading along, Liz

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Sharing is great! Please feel free to share this blog with your friends, as well as on Facebook and Pinterest and Flipboard and Houzz and YouTube the more the merrier! I appreciate you stopping by. But please remember that all photos, images, text and content are owned by SimpleDecoratingTips.com. So anything you share, please be sure it always links back to my original post it came from. Please do not remove watermarks, crop or edit anything without written permission from me first.

Disclosure Policy: According to the FTC guidelines, I want you to be aware that this blog is a source of income and may occasionally incorporate endorsements or testimonials and shopping links. It is important to me to disclose this to you. The content of this blog is a source of income and therefore may be used to promote products, services, or other businesses. I will only choose to promote products/services/businesses that I feel will be beneficial to my readers. Products provided to me by my advertising partners for my review are given to me free of charge with no cost to myself. This does not ensure a positive review of the product in any way. While I hope to generate a small profit for my time and effort to create this blog, I hold myself to the highest standard of integrity. I appreciate my readers, and always make it my goal to deliver quality, honest material on this blog through each post. Thanks for reading along, Liz

Disclosure Policy According to Federal Trade Commission guidelines, I want you to be aware that this blog is a source of income and may occasionally incorporate endorsements or testimonials. It is important to me to disclose this to you. The content of this blog is a source of income and therefore may be used to promote products, services, or other businesses. I will only choose to promote products/services/businesses that I feel will be beneficial to my readers. Products provided to me by my advertising partners for my review are given to me free of charge with no cost to myself. This does not ensure a positive review of the product in any way. My truthful opinion will be what I state, no matter if I'm getting paid or not. Accuracy and truth are the priority for me on this blog's information, no matter if it's about a product or anything else. Not every product or service or store etc. may be mentioned in each and every post as an affiliate. While I hope to generate a small profit for my time and effort to create this blog, I hold myself to the highest standard of integrity. I appreciate my readers, and always make it my goal to deliver quality, honest material on this blog through each post.

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