Five Tips for Using Wood Putty
Type
Wood putty can either be water-based or solvent-based. Putty based on water will not have any solvent fumes and will be easy to clean up with water. Solvent-based wood putty requires turpentine or acetone in order to clean it up. Solvent-based putty may also dry out in the can unlike putty that is water-based.
Grain
You can also get different effects on the grain by using wood putty with different colors. If you want to emphasize the grain, you should use putty with a color that contrasts with the color of the wood. If you want the wood grain to be less noticeable, you should use wood putty that nearly matches the color of the grain.
Drying
You may also have problems getting wood putty to dry correctly. This is particularly a problem when you use water-based putty to repair deep cracks. When you use water-based wood putty in deep cracks, the water will not be able to evaporate well. You can avoid this by using smaller layers of wood putty to repair the crack. This will also help avoid cracking and shrinking of the putty.
Outdoors
It may be necessary to use wood putty outside. If you need to do this, you need to make sure the putty is solvent-based. Wood putty that is based on water may freeze if you use it outside. The performance of the putty will eventually be affected after repeated thawing and freezing outside.
Color
You should always have wood putty with different colors. This will make it much easier to match the color of the wood closely. You can mix the different colors to achieve the correct shade. Solvent-based wood putty usually has a larger color selection that putty that is water-based. Therefore, they are better to use when you need to repair pieces that are hard to match.
These are a few tips for using wood putty. If you need to use water-based putty in deeper cracks, you should do it in layers to avoid cracking and shrinking. Also, you should only use solvent-based putty for outside applications because water-based varieties can’t withstand repeated freezing and thawing.
