I recently contacted the new owner of the Deft Product line, Pittsburgh Paints.
The person with whom I spoke (technical rep.) said that Lowe's decided to no longer carry the Deft product line, since the privately-held company (Deft Finishes) was sold to Pittsburgh Paints in early 2013 (there are several stock trading web sites that posted news about this sale back in April 2013). Perhaps this has to do with product lines of paint that Lowe's presently carries being competitors of Pittsburgh Paints, and, by agreement or contract, may not be able to carry product from competing vendors (?). Regardless, Lowe's no longer carries the Deft wood finishes line.
The person from Pittsburgh Paints said that there are no plans at present to do away with (or re-formulate) the Deft Wood finishes line (Deft also makes a diverse line of various industrial coatings, including paints and sealers for aircraft), and that, at least in theory, these wood finishing products should still be available through various vendors. Woodcraft and Klingspor seem to be continuing this product line; Ace Hardware is also supposed to be one of the national distributors. I have no idea if Home Depot ever carried the Deft Line, but apparently they do not right now.
Deft Spray lacquer is (was?) my spray finish of choice, and I am a bit miffed by Lowe's decision to discontinue supplying this product. It's supposed to still be around, but not nearly as convenient as purchasing it from our local Lowe's, which also sold it at a somewhat lower price than one can obtain via catalogs or on-line, driving up the cost to use these products, and also creating a greater hassle of maintaining an inventory of the finishes I use routinely.
I have been assured (at least in the message received from the sales rep. two weeks ago) that the Deft Wood Finishes line is intended to continue into the foreseeable future, even under the new ownership of Pittsburgh Paints. I really hope it does...
