Howard RS0016 Restor-A-Shine Wood Finish Polishing Compound – 16 oz

Works Well. This did what I expected it to. I used it on a piece of furniture I was building. When you finish a piece of furniture and scuff sand in between coats of varnish the varnish will get sort of scratchy or cloudy looking, but it’s necessary to take down the dust nibs and whatnot. Every time you apply a new coat of varnish, the wood look fantastic, every time you scuff it, it gets hazy. By the final coat of varnish, you might want to just use some steel wool to take down the final nibs. Of course you end up scuffing up the sheen by doing this. The Polishing Compound is the final step to end this cycle.I put it on after wet, scuff-sanding with steel wool then applied the polishing compound (with steel wool at first, though it doesn’t specifically recommend this) then rub it in vigorously with a soft cloth. Then rub it in whats left with a clean cloth. Then a final rubbing with another clean cloth. Then another rubbing the next day.And you’re good! It leaves a sophisticated satin sheen.I believe it contains a mild abrasive and leaves behind a thin coat of some kind of wax.I don’t think this is a miracle product that is going to instantaneously save some trashed piece of furniture, but it can bring certain pieces back to life depending on the state of the finish.

“Light” scratch repair. This is a fantastic product when used for its intended purpose. It works perfectly to remove light surface scratches in polyurethane or other wood finishes. It is not easy to use, because it takes some tough elbow grease to work it into the surface of the finish, “sand” out the scratches, and polish the finished area. This polishing compound is used in three steps. First, in the initial step as a liquid drizzled onto the area of the scratch or poured generously onto a soft cloth, the compound is worked over the surface finish where the scratches are located. Using a lite circular motion, spread the liquid over the surface, working it into the area of the scratch. Second, as the liquid evaporates it forms more of a paste. Now you want to switch from lite circular motions to heavier strokes directly over the scratches, working with the grain of the wood. This is where the compound does its job, by “sanding” the scratches out of the surface with the heavier pressure. There are fine abrasive particles in the liquid, and as the liquid evaporates the particles can perform more aggressively to sand out the scratches. Finally, as the paste is absorbed into the towel it leaves an oily residue that is tough to get up, but this actually has some light abrasive qualities that, when rubbed with a clean towel or buffed using a rotary buffer with a soft bonnet, will polish the surface to a bright shine. It takes a little practice to get this process down, but once you get the hang of it, the results are quite good. The one drawback is this “sanding” will leave some dullness in the finish that can be noticeable compared to the surrounding surface. While this is not that noticeable or objectional in most cases, further buffing will improve this greatly. If you are not satisfied with the final gloss this company also makes a companion product that will polish out the dullness, and return the surface to a brilliant shine. My experience was using the polishing compound on 35YO polyurethane hard wood floors. At this age and level of wear the result using just the Restor-A-Shine was a near perfect match to the original floor finish. I highly recommend this product for removing light surface scratches in wood finishes, but be prepared for some work and sore arms later.

Love this stuff. I am o glad I found this again. It restores the shine and repairs water spots and scratches.