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.

I gave it four out of five stars. I didn't like that FedEx was used instead of Amazon. Kept getting updates everyday that it was running late. This went on for several days past the shipping date. Fortunately another neighbor had it delivered to them and they brought it over. They were out of town for a few days and it sat on their porch. Had FedEx even said it was delivered then I might have realized it went elsewhere.
If I had a stricter timeline to finish this project (oak kitchen) the client would have been more upset.
As far as the quality of the project it's good. It does apply very easily, like butter. You do, however, need to put a few coats to get it all into the open pores of the grain. Thus, it adds a lot of time to your work.

We have three bathrooms in our house, each with standard oak vanities. I painted two of them prior to using Aqua Coat and had pretty decent results with two coats of primer and 2-3 coats of paint. I have been contemplating painting our kitchen cabinets but really want to hide the grain completely so for our last vanity I decided on using Aqua Coat. I figured this would give me a good comparison and determine if the extra step would be worth the time.

I started out cleaning the cabinets and doors, deglossing, and then lightly sanding with 220 grit sandpaper. After cleaning the dust off completely, I applied Aqua Coat to each of the doors and drawer faces. I let it dry 4-8 hours depending on my schedule. Prior to starting the next coat, I lightly sanded with 220 grit sandpaper, cleaned the dust, and applied the next coat. Prior to the third coat I lightly sanded with 320 grit. At this point, the wood felt smooth as glass, however I did notice a couple areas that weren't quite as smooth. I then applied a final fourth coat and wow, the grain was completely filled and doors were smooth.

I then began painting with Insl-X cabinet coat applying two thin coats as a primer base then another 2 coats to finish, waiting at least 6 hours between coats per the paint directions.

What I will say is that the doors and drawer faces came out extremely smooth, but as you can see from the uploaded picture, the grain is still visible when light is reflected on it. There's a video on YouTube from a paint channel that endorses Aqua Coat who did a demonstration painting the cabinets white and the grain was briefly visible when light reflected directly on it, but I thought maybe it was because he used two coats. I was wrong.

With that said, as long as light doesn't directly reflect on the surface, they really do appear smooth. In addition, they do feel smooth with no noticeable feeling of the grain. I'm just a little disappointed that this still didn't actually hide the grain. This wouldn't be much of an issue on the floor level kitchen cabinets but would be very noticeable on the wall hanging cabinets. Given the extra time required, I think I will pass on using this for painting the cabinets.

I will still give this 4 stars because it does fill the grain extremely well, however 1 star deducted for not completely hiding the grain. I will still likely use the clear version on some of my wood projects that I don't want to paint but want to give a glass smooth surface to on very porous wood as I am impressed with this products ability to fill the grain without distorting the wood colors underneath.

Pros: Easy to apply, very low odor, easy to clean, fast drying, actually does fill the grain and makes a super smooth surface

Cons: Doesn't hide the grain on painted wood

Caveat to the con: maybe this was due to the type of paint I used as it is very thin but with multiple coats dries to an extremely durable finish.

This product worked like magic on my OAK Cabinets.
Can't even tell they ever had grain at all! Here is what I did:
Sanded with 180 grit using a DA.
Wiped down...then used a plastic applicator to press into the grain.
Next, I used my fingers...yes fingers...and lightly smeared smoothly over everything....
Then...I did it again. A light sand with 220 after everything was dry and it was perfection!
Thank you Aqua Coat for this amazing product, I highly recommend!

Redid two kitchens with this stuff. Make it so smooth. You will have to do a lot of coats, like 15 for completely smooth. I did on kitchen where I wanted the grain to slightly show to add some character and only did 3 layers.