Aqua Coat Water-Based White Cabinet Wood Grain Filler Gel – Fast Drying, Low Odor White Wood Filler, Sandable & Paintable for Interior & Exterior Repairs, Upgrades & Restorations – 32 oz

If you're applying to let's say oak cabinet faces and you want to get it near grainless and smooth. I wouldn't apply until you have used minimum 220 grit finish paper or you will sand most of it off and the grain want take good. Then maybe hit it light by hand with 220 or greater and you should only have to do a couple few lite swipes and best to use a sponge or block to stay flat. Never leave any windrows or anything on edges obviously. This does have blending capabilities for small tappers where uneven cabinet faces that you did the best to reset or blend out sanding can be blending even better with this product and adhere and hold. This was second coat and really could be done, as great primers will hide enough for some.If you ordered new cabinet doors and drawer faces that are paint grade maple this will match better and won't be able to tell what kind of wood species near as much.Use a hard rrubber applicator more like when applying glazing putty over Bondo to fill pin holes in auto body repair bit can never use on edges or the applicator is done or will need to sand edge back on applicator itself. Plastic applicator for pushing out bubbles installing tinted windows work great also. Harder wreck edge on this applicator.Most likely areas will need second coat with super light sandings in between. There have been reviews as to if this actually can 100% fill the grain up and in my opinion, not quite. Depending on the grain it will fill near up between 1 and 4 coats. Some grain just won't take material.You could try sanding in the 300 grits and more coats but my gosh, there older airless spray painted cabinets. Very nice, but not that nice. Still a five-star for what you're getting in the absolute ease of product and it's adhesion properties. All day long son.

Initially, I made the mistake of ordering their clear gel version of this product, and attempting to put it on top of a coat of BIN primer. It instantly yellowed and cracked. Avoid the clear gel unless your topcoat will also be clear; it uses a different chemical formulation and isn't as effective as the white product.If you are painting old oak cabinets white, this is the grain filler to use. See my picture for a result of what my cabinets look like after three very fine coats. Here is my advice to getting a perfect result:1. Apply using a spreader--Amazon recommended the Dynatron 358 Spreader 3-pack from 3M and they are fantastic and absolutely essential for proper application. The flexibility of the spreader and fine edge makes it easy to "push" the grain filler into the recesses of the grain, and using the long spreader it is very easy to scrape off the excess leaving a perfectly flat finish.2. Apply VERY THIN COATS. You're only trying to fill the voids, nothing more. Aqua Coat recommends three coats and I've also found that three coats seem to result in an almost perfectly flat surface. No, it's not as flat as MDF, but that's why you're still going to want to apply two coats of primer and a high performance white enamel cabinet paint with good leveling characteristics. Do not cheap out on your topcoat! These are cabinets, and they demand a high quality topcoat like General Finishes Pigmented Poly in White (if spraying), or their Brushable White Enamel (if brushing). Spraying is always preferred.3. Between coats, hit it with a 3M scotch-brite pad (I use the purple "very fine" variety) to remove the dust nibs and scuff the surface enough for the next application. Literally a quick pass is all it takes. Then, remove the dust you just made with compressed air or a damp rag. Compressed air is better as you don't have to wait for it to dry. You don't want to apply this product to any damp surface.4. When you're using the spreader, initially apply the gel perpendicular to the grain, to "push" the material into the grain. On your finishing pass, use the longest spreader possible and go with the grain. This will ensure your spreader is riding on the highest material and you'll get the best results.5. If you see cracking once dried, it means you applied too much. I had some very minor cracking in the corners where the cabinet center panel met the rails and stiles. It's tough to really fish out all that build-up, but I didn't stress about it because I will be running a thin bead of caulk around the entire center panel. This is a best practice when painting previously stained cabinets. White is incredibly unforgiving and you'll notice every tiny gap if you don't caulk ahead of time.6. Your time is valuable. Don't waste it by grain filling the back of the cabinet. Focus on the front, and where the grain runs the deepest. I didn't even worry about the rails and stiles because I observed the solid oak in those areas to be quite flat already. Plan ahead of time for how many coats of primer and paint, and do a test to see just how well your grain is hidden. You might discover you don't even need to grain fill certain parts of your project.7. Those who are complaining about how small this tub is... Again, you are only filling the voids and most of the material you are scraping off and putting back in the tub. I ended up doing 35 cabinet doors and only used half a quart.If you have additional questions, call the U.S. manufacturer at the number on the back of the can. A human being quickly answered and was able to give me plenty of pointers.

The aqua coat was much easier to use than wood filler when I was painting my kitchen cabinets that had a heavy grain pattern, but it did not work quite as well.

We have oak cabinets and wanted them painted white. Tired of the grainy look of oak. We looked at several samples of oak that had been painted and the grain was still easily visible. We decided to use aqua coat grain filler. We applied 3 coats. It’s easy to apply but does take significant prep time. Our painter and crew took their time applying the aqua coat and then painting the cabinets. The result is fantastic. You can not see any wood grain. The finish is smooth… looks like new cabinets.