General Finishes High Performance Water Based Topcoat, 1 Gallon, Gloss

Used on oak stair treads and trim over dark stain. Seems totally clear, did not change the color. Excellent results with HVLP gun, no thinning needed. Very forgiving; a few oversprays formed milky white puddles, but still dried quickly and evenly. Runs can be smoothed with a brush and still dry smooth. Also easy to brush - I applied generous coats but still dried smooth. Easy cleanup with soap and water. It did dry quickly in my spray gun so I had to clean some areas with a toothpick, but scraped off easily. Treads have only been installed for two weeks but I expect the finish to hold up. This is very expensive but well worth it in my opinion, will buy again.

Excellent product that delivers beautiful results

I am an amateur and this finish makes me feel like I know what I’m doing. Very forgiving application and seals paint or stain wonderfully.

Finally a water based finish that works well. Put this overtop an golden oak oil based stain (after 2 weeks drying time). At first I was hesitant when I opened the can and saw the milky white color. It dried clear, uniform and glossy finish. Water based was simple to clean up. Water based was not quite as forgiving as oil based for a brush stroke free finish, but was pretty close. The low vapor was a huge plus for a large built in indoor project. Much better than water based formulations from a few years ago, in my opinion.

I have been a serious hobbyist woodworker for over 55 years. I build larger pieces and like to spray my finishes in a spray booth of my own construction. I avoid solvent based finishes for environmental and safety reasons. For decades I used Moser's Simple Success and liked it very much. Then, one day, I could no longer find it. I did some research online and found that General Finishes High Performance was well regarded by woodworkers who seemed to know what they were talking about. It is not as easy to use as Simple Success, but it is an acceptable substitute. It flows on well, but does not flow out as well as I would like. I do not get those glass smooth coats Simple Success produced, but one can sand it flat to produce a nice feeling finish. I found that sanding sponges work better than sandpaper on this product, but sponges are not available in the variety of grits you can get with sandpaper. So, I sand the first two coats with a 400 grit sponge (blowing the dust out of it frequently) and the second two coats with a 1000 grit sponge. If the sponge is thin, be sure to back it with a sanding block if you want a flat and level finish. Wet sanding does not work well with this product, which is a disappointment. With each successive coat, I sand a little less and sand the last coat VERY little; just enough to remove the dust nibs. With so much sanding, I have been unable to get a very high gloss, even with a couple coats of paste wax, but the resulting finish looks and feels very nice. I am only on my second gallon, so it is difficult to speak to durability, but it appears to be a nice hard finish. Given that Simple Success is no longer available, if you are dedicated to waterborne finishes, as I am, there does not appear to be a better product available. With that caveat, I do recommend it.