Minwax 630520444 Water Based Helmsman Indoor/Outdoor Spar Urethane, Satin, Clear, 1 Quart, (1 Piece, 1 Pack)

[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] Finally, a coating that my wife likes. I prefer my wood having a high shine to it and my wife prefers a dull look. I wanted to try a new and different product that I've never used before. I'm glad I tried this one out. It gives the trim a little bit of a shine, but it doesn't make it too shiny. I'm very impressed with the middle of the road shine and protectant. This is definitely my new go to protectant.

I was exited to be at the last stages of finishing a pub table. Just finished toning and wanted to try a more flexible finish being it was going in the garage. This finish is trash! I should have known better and stayed with a higher quality product.

I stained and coated 2x a 12" piece of oak, which I left outside and totally exposed for a whole year in Massachusetts. Snow fell on it, UV hit it directly. I covered half of it with opaque tape first … and after the year was over, washed it and removed the tape. There were *absolutely* no signs of aging, cracking, nothing. Couldn't tell which side had been protected. In my book, that is a A+.

Window finishing I replaced all windows in my house with Anderson wood framed. The window wood and trim are pine and I conditioned, stained and applied 4 coats of the Water Based Helmsman® Spar Urethane. It looked great 10 years ago when I did this project and it still looks great now. One window is right above the kitchen sink where it gets often splattered with whatever is in the sink. All it takes is a quick wipe with a sponge and it looks like new. The product is made to last!

I have been very happy with Minwax Helmsman Indoor/Outdoor Oil Based product. I bought the water based one and it is terrible. As others have noted there is no way to apply this without visible brush marks. I have applied it on different woods with different brushes with the same result. I will be sanding off the water base and applying the good old oil base product. I believe the issue is that it dries too quickly and there is no chance for the product to self-level and have the brush strokes disappear. I hope they do not remove the oil base Helmsman from their product line because it is the only one that works.