I'm working on a piece of cage furniture right now. It's almost done, but I didn't realize how freaking SHINY polycrylic is :/ Anyway, after a bajillion coats of poly( rough estimate), I'm trying to figure out a way to cut the shine. I have a few options here. My first, which I'm currently testing, is spraying a matte finish over the final coat. I'm not sure how much that will help though. I'm also testing a tip I found online to add a pinch of sand over the final coat. I'm not sure how fond I am of this... The sand distorts the color and gives it a really rough finish. My final option (at least the only other that I've come up with!) is to use a coat of regular old matte acrylic paint as the top coat. I'm really leaning toward this one, as it will cover up some of the patches of bubbles in my poly. I know acrylic is waterproof, but to what extent? Do you guys know if it will hold up to weekly soap and water cleanings? I want this piece to have some longevity. Thanks for any input!