Ronseal clear silk varnish - what a disaster!

[RigidRaider]

I am changing all the doors in the house and have clear varnished the first four with Dulux clear silk, which after 3 coats (rubbed down between) gives a nice even smooth silky matt finish. Yesterday on the 5th door I used Ronseal clear silk for the final coat - what a mess! Despite taking enormous care to apply it evenly I'm left with a semi-gloss, which shows every brush mark and patches of unevenness. I'm really disappointed in the finish. I'm going to have to sand it right back and apply a fourth coat of Dulux to try to get back that even sheen that I had on coats 1 and 2.

Anybody else noticed this difference between Dulux and Ronseal?

 

[Trazor]

In all probability, if you had applied 3 coats of ronseal first, they would have been fine, with a top coat of dulux then looking poor.

Why did you change paints...???... ...... Different paints can react with each other.

 

[RigidRaider]

I changed because I ran out of the Dulux and could only find Ronseal in the shops.

Now I am searching for Dulux and can't find it anywhere. I notice that the can has "trade" on the label - does this mean I might be able to get some from a Dulux Decorator centre?

The bloke at B&Q told me they have fallen out with Dulux and only stock the minimum they can manage. Why is this, I wonder?

 

[Zampa]

Was the satin water or oil based?

 

[RigidRaider]

Oil based because the doors are veneered.

 

[RigidRaider]

Thought you might be interested to know that after a lot of enquiring I realised that I had bought the original Dulux Trade satin varnish at a Dulux decorator centre. So I went and bought another can and the bloke there confirmed to me that the Dulux trade range is of a far superior quality to any "Joe Public" retail product. Certainly the effect with a coat of this is perfect; a nice satin sheen, even and smooth, showing no defects. It looks like a professional job in a hotel or office.

So is he right?