Is it safe to use polyurethane to protect wood painted with acrylic paint? Will the paint bleed?

I want to achieve a hard gloss finish on my wood. Without the colors and details bleeding together. I have heard with polyurethane both sides. It will and wont bleed. Anyone know for sure?Is it safe to use polyurethane to protect wood painted with acrylic paint? Will the paint bleed?
noIs it safe to use polyurethane to protect wood painted with acrylic paint? Will the paint bleed?
Once the acrylic paint has dried no polyurethane coating will 'bleed' into it.





Polyurethane is a clear coat paint designed to be used over other paints to protect the other paint. It will not harm the paint it was designed to protect. Anyone who tells you it will is full of misinformation.
The acrylics will not bleed. I've been using polyurethane on both oil and acrylic for years on walls, on wood, on canvas and on wood panel and have never had any bleeding of paint at all. Polyeurathane is a protective coating. Trust me you're safe.
You mentioned the paint being acrylic? There are water-based polys available that should work well with that. I use it on my painted wood pieces with success. No bleed through yet. Obviously, wait till the paint is dry before proceeding.
I believe the correct way... would be to put primer on the wood...not polyurethane...paint it (let dry thoroughly)...then put poly on top...





If you are painting a design on the wood...and want a natural wood background...you could spray the wood with a light sealer...then paint (let dry thoroughly)...then put poly on top....
I have no idea what your talking about.
You can safetly coat the wood and painting after you're done with no worries provided the paint has dried completely - at least 24 hours. You might want to wait longer if large patches of color were applied because the wood could have absorbed more moisture from the paints.





As others have said, poly does have a slight to moderate yellowish tint to it, so you'll want to keep your coat(s) as thin as possible especially if you have a lot of near white colors.





If you're wanting to coat the wood surface before painting you can, but again others are correct in saying that poly doesn't always adhere well to smooth surfaces (or other paints to poly). That's why you should always light scuff between coats with a very fine sandpaper or steel wool. In this case you could apply a heavy coat to the wood, let it dry fully, lightly scuff the entire surface, paint any designs, then apply another coat of poly for protection when you designs are dry.





As to polying both sides - if you don't then as the humidity changes moisture will enter and leave the uncoated side causing it to swell more or less than the coated side. That could cause slight bending or flexing depending on the type and thickness of wood. Put the same number of coats on both sides for best results.
polyurethane will not allow bleed thru, but it does yellow and has poor adhesion unless you sand 1st. Use a clear acrylic which goes on milky but dries perfectly clear and it's a water cleanup.