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Wood filler and putty are great to cover up all sorts of damages in wood.
However, these are different in terms of application and don’t have the same drying times. So if you’ve ever wondered how long for the wood filler to dry and how long does putty take to dry before painting, or how long does putty take to dry before sanding, you’ve come to the right place.
It doesn’t matter what kind of project you’re working on, it’s useful to have both of these fillers handy. And if you know how long the wood filler drying time is and the wood putty dry time is, you can carefully plan your project.
Here, you can find everything from how long does it take for the wood filler to dry and how long does it take for wood putty to dry. This will help you a lot with your projects, so keep on reading!
How Long Does It Take On Average?
Woof filer and putty can take anywhere from 15 minutes to a day to fully dry.
To be more specific, a filler usually takes two to six hours to completely dry. Wood putty can take a bit longer, ranging anywhere from two to eight hours.
To find out more about the specific drying times, you can check below for more information.
What Is A Wood Putty And A Wood Filler?
Some people use the words wood putty and wood filler interchangeably to signify the same thing.
It’s actually not the same thing. Below, we explain it to you so you can pick the best one for the job you want to do.
Wood putty
Wood putty, aka plastic wood, is a non-hardening pliable paste that dries firm but not as hard as a wood filler. As you can tell by its name, it’s made from plastic chemicals but also oil-based compounds and sometimes a pigment to match the color of the wood you want to fix.
As for what you can use it for, you can use wood putty to fix small blemishes such as joint blemishes or nail holes. It’s usually used for small things on finished projects. Wood putty is very useful for small holes as it doesn’t dry completely hard. You don’t need a total cure.
Wood filler
Wood filler, contrarily to wood putty, fully hardens. It’s made from fibers and wood particles mixed with a thinner and a binder. When you apply the wood filler, the thinner evaporates, which makes the filler harden and dry. This creates a very strong bond with the wood, unlike wood putty.
The hardening helps the wood maintain its integrity, but it won’t help improve the strength of joints because a wood filler isn’t a true structural material. In the same vein, it doesn’t replace mechanical fasteners.
Types Of Wood Fillers
There are different types of wood fillers, and each of them has a different impact on drying time. There are water-based and oil-based fillers. Drying times can also depend on the depth of your application. Shallow repairs tend to try faster than deep repairs, which need multiple coats.
Here are all the details about them so that you can pick the right one for you:
Water-based filler dry times
Water-based fillers usually dry faster than oil-based ones. They can take between 30 minutes and an hour to dry for a single shallow repair to dry. If it needs a deeper repair with several layers, it can take anywhere between two to six hours for the water-based filler to dry.
Oil-based filler dry times
An oil-based filler takes longer to dry. For the surface layer to dry, it can take 10 to 20 minutes to fully dry, but it takes longer to do a full cure or for all the layers to fully dry.
Once you apply the first surface layer, you can wipe any excess. Once that’s done