Hello Guest - Login/Register

General Finishes, Wood Stains and Finishes

General Finishes make the finest wood finishes. They are easy to use, the colours are fabulous and the top coats are strong and long wearing. Whether you want the bold, luscious colours of water based paints and stains or the classic traditional wood tones of our wipe-on oil base finishes, we have the finish for you.

Popular Products

VAR Top Coat A self crosslinking polyurethane that looks more like an oil varnish than a water coating. Review	EF Milk Paint Interior / exterior acrylic paints suitable for indoor or outdoor furniture, crafts, and cabinets. Produce a high quality satin sheen finish	NEW: Enduro Lacquer An economical, high performing clear finish that provides superior clarity and hardness. Excellent water and chemical resistance.	Gel Stain Easy-to-use stains simply wipe on with a cloth or foam brush. Formulated with a combination of pigments, oils, and urethanes to produce a durable and beautiful  finish.
Graco EasyMax WP Designed to spray a wide range of European (Fine Finish) paints for interior and exterior. Review	Dye Stains Unique, ultra penetrating stains designed to work like solvent-based stains.	H. P. Top Coat Winner of Fine Woodworking's Best Overall Choice Award. The hardest, most durable consumer polyurethane top coat on the market today. Contains a UV Stabilizer. Can be used on floors.	Exterior 450 Stain Premium quality, exterior pigmented stains designed for outdoor projects.

Stockists

New Address and Phone Number: We are pleased to advise we have now relocated to our new premises in Edinburgh to accomodate our expansion. Address: General Finishes, Unit 13, Peffermill Parc, 25 King's Haugh, Edinburgh, EH16 5UY. Phone: +441316615553, Fax: +441316080339. Items can be collected from our new warehouse but please call first. We are planning an open day in the autumn, details closer to then.

Next Stock Delivery: Late May 2013.

Brochure: Download our General Finishes Europe 2012/13 Brochure:

-

Shows: A range of our products will be available at the following shows:

The Scottish Woodcraft Exhibition stand 24, Ingliston, Edinburgh, Fri 25th & Sat 26th October 2013.

The North of England Woodworking and Power Tool Show stand 40 & 41, Great Yorkshire Showground, Harrogate, 22nd - 24th November 2013.

The South East Woodworking and Power Tool Show, Kent County Showground, March 2014.

New Product: Enduro Water Base Lacquer is an economical, high performing clear finish that provides superior clarity and hardness. Designed for interior use on furniture, cabinets, & millwork, it exhibits excellent water and chemical resistance.

Reviews: Good Woodworking July 2011 issue:
Graco EasyMax Pro paint sprayer "Say goodbye to blocked nozzles with this gun" See full review. Note renamed from MINIMAX.
Enduro-VAR 5 star rating by Good Woodworking: "Each piece had four coats applied with a foam pad, which gave excellent results" See full review.

New Products: See our new products: Var Top Coat, Pre-Cat Sanding Sealer, Pre-Cat Top Coat and Exterior 450 Stain. The Var Top Coat looks and feels like an oil finish but is water based and is already gaining a strong following in the USA. The Exterior 450 Stains look great on your outdoor projects. The new Pre-Cat finishes utilise the latest resin and cross linking technology to provide maximum toughness, durability and water resistance. It is comparable to any conversion varnish or pre-catalyzed product.

Facebook: Join us on our new Facebook page with latest info, and photos.

Review: Good Woodworking December '10 issue, Fuel for the winter Firewood Box by Phil Davy, Consultant Editor. "I finished the box with three coats of General Finishes Milk Paint, choosing Brick Red for winter warmth, which definitely has a New England feel about it. The great thing about this finish is that you don’t need a primer or undercoat on softwood, though this is recommended if using MDF." See full Firewood Box project (reproduced with kind permission).

Review: Good Woodworking June '09 issue, "General Finishes Milk Paints may not be cheap, but I was impressed by their coverage & ease of application". See review and mini project. Issue also features a review of the Scottish Woodworking show "Taking its place as the king of the new products was General Finishes"

Twitter: Follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/GeneralFinishEU

Hazardous Shipping Charge Reduced to £3.20: Items hazardous for shipping purposes (mainly oil based products) now have a much reduced shipping supplement of £3.20 per order. Item detail pages show if a product is hazardous for shipping purposes.

Go Green With General Finishes Environmentally Friendly Products: Most of our General Finishes and Enduro Water Based products now meet four of the American green standards. For details see our Go Green With General Finishes Environmentally Friendly Products pdf. (Note some products are only available by special order).

Exterior 450 Performance Data: See our detailed Performance Data for our new Exterior 450 finish designed for exterior wood applications, Exterior 450 varnish provides your wood with a tough, protective finish that will withstand the rigors of the sun, rain, and wind. Ideal for outdoor furniture, doors, and case goods.

Suggested Wood Finishing Book: We recommend this book "Foolproof Wood Finishing by Teri Masaachi". RRP £11.99, ISBN 978-1-56523-303-4. You can order direct from GMC Publications or by calling 01273 488 005. See sample pages (reproduced with permission).: Applying Quick-Dry Wiping Stains - page 61 - Applying Gel Pigment Stains - page 63 - Applying Non-Grain-Raising Dyes by Hand - page 70 - Soft Rub-Out for Penetrating Wipe-On Finishes - page 122.

Factory Photo : Below is a photo of the new manufacturing facility in East Troy, Wisconsin which opened in 2006. For more info see our History page.

Completed East Troy factory, 2007.

Review: Ian Taylor in The Woodworker, August 2007 builds a Country-Style table and uses General Finishes Milk Paints and Water Based Top Coat to create a distressed finish. "The process worked very well, and for a first attempt I was pleased with it. I’ll definitely try it again – a matching pine storage chest has been added to my future projects list. There’s a wide range of options with this finish." See full review pdf.

Free Draw: Sign up for our newsletter for news, offers, tips and regular free prize draws. (Sorry prize draw limited to Mainland Britain only).

Review: The Woodworker, March 2007. Review of range, testing High Performance, Arm-R-Seal (NLA) and Gel Stain. "Pros: High quality and big range. Cons: Not yet available in the shops. Recommended". See full review pdf. See stockists above!

Review: Water Based High Performance rated "Author's Best Overall Choice" by Fine Woodworking Magazine Nov / Dec 2006. Trade enquires, please see our Trade page.