Cleaning Grease and Grime Buildup. – By saturating a cleaning cloth with mineral spirits and rubbing it over the surface of your polyurethane countertop, you can clean away most of the smudges and dirt that can collect from daily use of a countertop.
Rub alcohol: In small amounts, rubbing alcohol will work perfectly to clean your polyurethane surface and remove most grease and stains. Mineral spirits: add an available amount of mineral spirit to a clean cloth or rag and wipe gently over the finish on the wood.
Rub a little acetone, found in nail polish remover, over an inconspicuous spot in a small, circular motion. Lacquer will dissolve and varnishes and shellacs will turn sticky after a few minutes. Polyurethane will repel the acetone, and it will bead up like water.
Apply mineral spirits or denatured alcohol and rub to get polyurethane off your hands. Alternatively, vegetable oil, peanut butter, or soy-based polyurethane stripper can also remove polyurethane.
Use 50% water and 50% distilled vinegar for a streak-free look. If your kitchen glass cabinet has wooden mullions, then do not spray the distilled vinegar directly on the surface. Instead, spray onto a cloth and gently wipe.
Murphy® Oil Soap gets deep into grime to break up dirt particles and it's safe to use on wood products like cabinets.
Mix equal parts of white vinegar and hot water in a 5-gallon plastic bucket. Add a few drops of olive oil to the mixture. The vinegar and hot water help to disinfect your cabinets, while removing grease and grime. The olive oil provides a subtle shine.
If you don't like using strong chemicals on your wooden products, you can use vinegar and baking soda to remove polyurethane.
Pledge Multi-Surface Furniture Polish Spray
The polish works on everyday wood furniture with hard finishes like varnish, shellac, and polyurethane, providing a high-gloss sheen that staves off dust but doesn't leave behind a waxy buildup.
You can, however, use denatured alcohol to remove latex, lacquer, shellac and polyurethane finishes, as it is less toxic than paint strippers, although it may take more time to work than paint strippers.
Apply only one thin coat. Then, remove any dust nibs with 1,500-grit sandpaper or a piece of brown paper bag. Finally, using a soft cotton rag or polishing pad, buff the finish to a high shine using automotive paste wax, photo below, which has fine abrasives that polish the finish even further.
Generally it is hard to dissolve polyurethane as swelling is the common phenomenon observed. May be you can try with mixture of dichloromethane, dimethyl formamide and methanol .
Mineral spirits will not affect polyurethane, so a rejuvenator is needed for this. This is simply paint stripper thinned with solvent. It will soften the polyurethane so some of the top material can be wiped off.
It really is just as easy as the name sounds, and the Wipe-On Poly will leave a permanent, protective finish on any worn, dried-out cabinets.
The best way to remove poly from wood is by mixing denatured alcohol with lacquer thinner. It's the best combination for stripping polyurethane.
Use brushes for staining or finishing. Rinse well after use. For Polycrylic® Brushes, clean with soap and water. For Wood Finish™ and Polyurethane brushes, clean with mineral spirits or paint thinner, following to manufacturer's safety instructions.
No, you shouldn't apply wax over polyurethane finish. Polyurethane doesn't require extra protection as it will make the floor dangerously slippery. Moreover, you will have to periodically strip the wax as it turns yellow over time, and the wax will come off before sand and refinish.
Boil 4 cups of water and remove it from the stove. Mix together 1/2 cup cold water and 1 cup cornstarch until it creates a thick paste. Pour your 4 cups of water into a bucket and add 3/4 cup baking soda and 1 tbsp of vinegar. Stir it all together and then add in your cold water and cornstarch.
Handwashing is always the best and safest method for washing polyurethane. Add 2 capfuls or a squirt of Delicate Wash to a washbasin or sink filled with cool water. Submerge the item and gently agitate the water with your hands to evenly distribute soap.
Mix a 50/50 solution of vinegar and warm water and pour it into a spray bottle. Mist on cabinets, let sit for a minute or two and then wipe clean with a soft cloth. Add a few drops of liquid dishwashing detergent to the vinegar and water solution to clean extremely grimy cabinets.
If you like a darker tone: First clean your cabinets with a mix of TSP and water. Once they're dry, sand the cabinets lightly and use a tack cloth to remove dust. Then apply a polyurethane varnish (tinted to whatever tone you find appealing). This varnish-stain combo is likely to do the job in one application.
Water (with a pH of 7) and dish soap (with a pH between 7 and 8) are always good options. The best cleaner, the one that is less likely to do damage to the wood is good old-fashioned elbow grease. Applied with a damp cloth, elbow grease should be effective at removing dirt and dust and even oil and grease build-up.
Most of the dirt, dust, and splatter ends up on the exterior of your kitchen cabinets, so you should give them a good scrubbing once a week. Simply grab a microfiber cloth and make a solution of warm water and liquid dish soap, and wipe the cabinets down.