Clean Armor 700 Wood Finish- Interior Clear Coat

I started using clean armor products last year and was thrilled with the speed of finishing with them. I tried all the sheens in the 700 line and have found uses for all of them. Based on my tests I started using matte 700 on my stained maple kitchen cabinets I am building for our retirement home. When I was installing the drawer hardware I used some blue painters tape to help with seeing the drill locations. When I pulled the tape off, the finish came with it! I started inspecting the rest of the cabinet and there are multiple places where the finish is failing. Some of them are at bumps and dings, but that is what happens to kitchen cabinets, they have to take some wear and tear. I contacted Lite n done and had a good conversation with the owner. He said i possibly had some bad shellac. I was sealing the maple with diluted shellac, staining with minwax oil stain, applying 710 sealer on that, then top coating with 700 matte. I did multiple tests with and without shellac, with and without stain, and with and without an alcohol dye. I used some armorseal poly for comparison. In every case where the clean armor was applied over anything but bare wood, it would pull off with tape. I used Tyvek tape, very sticky stuff. The armorseal did not pull off once. The clean armor pulled off of anything other than bare wood.

I then tested an out of sight place on a piece i completed last fall. In this case there was no shellac used in the process. I used a minwax wood conditioner to help even out the stain color on the maple and plywood. The clean armor satin finish pulled off. It did not pull off the bare wood drawers finished at the same time.

I am seeing similar finish failures where I have used the knot filler product also. It does not stay in place.

Today I went to use my mostly full bottle of 700 matte clean armor purchased in Jan this year. I am making the next set of drawers for the kitchen and was going to use clean armor on the bare wood. I have not been perfect about shaking it every week as it says to do, but it has been shaken periodically. Today, it would not shake, and when I tried to pour some out, it had turned to gel. The 710 sealer purchased around the same time is fine, just the matte finish gelled.

I am forced to stop buying and using clean armor products. They have not lived up to my expectations, nor are they comparable in adherence and durability to regular old polyurethane on the stained wood projects I have completed with the clean armor products.

I am very disappointed as I was all in on this system for a while. Now I have an expensive UV light and remaining product that I am stuck with. I will say the Owner of Lite n Done has been good to work with. He isn’t making the product, just distributing it. No knock on him, this is all about the clean armor products.

Hopefully my experience can help others using this line of uv curing products. I have pictures of some of the failed finish, but don’t see where to post them with my review.

I’ve been using this product for over a year and will continue to use it in applicable situations. It definitely has a learning curve, but it is simple and a very durable and desirable finish in certain applications.

Fast Shipping - Fantastic product - No smell and sets instantly with UV light. The finish that you see before the product is exposed to UV Light is the finish that you get. This is my first experience with Clean Armor, and so far I am impressed!

I’ve followed the application tips found on two websites; Lite & Done, and MyWoodCutters; and am unable to obtain a self leveling surface that results in no “brush marks” or ridges from the cloth, nylons to cover an applicator. The self leveling of the product isn’t happening. The best product has been the grain filler but a lot of sanding is required to remove the application ridges.

I have not had time to use this yet but so everthing my son and I have tried works really good
Thank you

Terrible finish, would not buy again! 716 does not look like hand rubbed finish - very inconsistent sheen. It is an epoxy finish and looks like it! The biggest issue was very inconsistent curing despite the Cuvo light even with extended light times and small lamp distances. In fact, was so disappointed with the look of the finish and inconsistent curing I sanded all the cured finish off (no easy task), once I got back to bare wood there was uncured finish that oozed from the seams and open pores for days!

Great product. I just used it this weekend and got great results on the first try.

Novice wood worker! I built a walnut table top and used 716 for the first time. It went extremely well. I used one saturating coat followed by a 400 grit lite sand and two extremely thin coats. I learned that I need to hang the lights over the top for easier cure. I used 2 min per section. Probably took 10 min for each coat. Love the results

I originally called Pierce months ago for advice on using Clean Armor finish for a desk I was building for my wife. I originally saw CA at IWF in Atlanta and bought the grain filler and semigloss top coat. I visited another distributors web site and while helpful the video's were much too long. I find Pierce's video's more helpful and to the point with good relevant info. When I reached out to him he returned my e-mails quickly with good useful info. I recently purchased another quart of the grain filler and I wanted to try the new wipe on finish as it will apparently cure with a light application. I have not used the wipe on to extensively but am using the grain filler with great results. The first coat over red oak goes on thick and I try to remove as much excess as possible. I sand down using 120. The 2nd and 3rd coats go on much thinner with less product. I sand each with 120 or 180. After the final coat I work it down to 600 using a HF pneumatic 6 inch orbital and am very happy with the satin very flat finish with visible depth. I am currently building a walk in closet with about 200 BF of Red Oak (buy direct from Amish at less than $1 BF ) and am using the grain filler for the wear surface. It has been working well and is very tough. I still spend about 90min per shelf but is still much quicker than poly. I dont have a drum sander and am left with planer marks but these are not visible with the grain filler build up sanded to 600. All in all I am very happy with Lite & Done. The video's and e-mail response and I do believe he even called me personally have been very helpful. The shipping turn around was fast. I also intend to build a light stand for my 18" Curvo instead of buying the ceiling mount UV. I want to experiment using magnets to attach to the stand so that I can remove quickly for hand held use. Thank You Pierce. I will be a repeat customer. Phil Richter TN.

Good product, we used it on some wood counters and a few other kitchen related parts. Was a time saver on the knotty drawer fronts, it looked as good as the epoxy method we were using but much quicker...

After using the starter kit I have ordered and received the CUVO 18' light and a quart of 750. I have a quart of matte finish and knot filler on order. I craft and sell Cribbage boards and other items on Etsy and at local venues. I have been using lacquer as my finish of choice for some time. I liked the finish, but it takes a couple of days to apply multiple coats and I have to deal with the solvent smell. The Clean Armor results in a nicer finish, no solvent small and fast turn around. I am sold.

Product makes the wood just beautiful. Just had a problem with one corner.

I used 700 matte to finish my cherry kitchen cabinet build, and was pretty thrilled with the achieved finish. It did take some trouble shooting, but I was quickly able to get really great consistent results. I didn't have any fancy UV light, and just used sunlight to cure it. My advice is to apply each coat VERY THIN, and do 3-4 coats. Be mindful of where the sun is, and rotate your projects if there are edges in shadow. Best to do it near midday so this isn't an issue (cloud cover didn't seem to hinder curing). Also I shaked the hell out of the bottle before EACH coat, as the matte agent settles and if you don't do this it definitely will achieve glossier results. At first I thought the finish was much closer to satin or even semi-glass than matte, but after time I do think it wears to satin-y matte. It's beautiful. The last thing I'll add is that based on the info on the clean armour site, I thought I would have to also buy the pre conditioner if I went with the matte finish. I emailed Lite n Done's customer service to double check this, and he said it wasn't necessary which ended up being right. The pre conditioner was not needed. Make sure to screw the lid on tight and store in a dark drawer or something. Highly recommend this product! I was working in a very tight garage space, and to be able to finish cabinets quickly was essential. Amazing product!

Outstanding Product

So far it seems to work great. I have not done a very large piece yet. But onsome samples that I have done it works great. I am getting ready to do something a bit larger to see how it works.

I am very excited by the prospect of a quick cure and ultra durable coating. However, I’ve tried two UC lights so far and am not impressed with the curing.

Loved the product. 716 gloss. Easy diy. The only problem is I dont have a darkroom. So I was up really late puting on three layers with a sanding inbetween. I did 3 applications and it was an enjoyable process. I couldn't wait for the resluts which only took 10 min or so. My countertop looks remarkable for a newbie. Im looking forward to enjoying my flashy new countertop. I'd give it 4 1/2 stars but there wasn't a section.for that. Downside is the spendy light. But Ive already got people intrested in it. So I'll have a few more projects and use out of the lights. In the end it was a good investment. Great product. Thanks for guiding me through the procces

Love this product. Started with the sample kit and played with mixing 700 with 716 to get the finish I liked.watched Pierce’s videos. Very helpful. Also, Pierce was very helpful and responsive to my questions. A++ supplier of a great product.

Great product, easy to appt and unbelievable Finnish. Pierce was fantastic in providing help to a fragile novice. Simple easy to apply and uick finish no smell!