Wood finishes are used extensively to improve the aesthetic value and protect wood products from moisture. These organic coatings generally contain volatile organic compounds (VOC) as solvents that evaporate when the coatings cure over the surface. Due to strict legislations against these hazardous VOCs, the buyers across the globe are shifting towards products finished with water borne coats. Two of the most commonly used wood coatings in India are polyurethane and nitrocellulose (NC) lacquer. This paper aims at comparing these two wood coatings with their water borne counterparts. The study was conducted on the wood substrate of Melia dubia. Chemical characterization of the cured coats was attempted through FTIR spectroscopy. Physical appearances in terms of gloss and film thickness were also studied. Bands of urethane, urea and nitric groups were identified, which helped in understanding the changes in chemical structure of the finishes after curing. The thickness of the organic coatings was significantly higher than that of their water-borne counterparts. Gloss of water based coatings was observed to be lesser than that of their organic solvent based counterparts in either coating material. In case of lacquer, the reduction was up-to 33 %. whereas in case of PU, gloss dropped down by about 54 %.; Premazni se materijali primjenjuju na drvu kako bi se očuvao njegov estetski izgled i drvni proizvodi zaštitili od vlage. Organski premazni materijali u osnovi sadržavaju hlapljive organske spojeve (HOS) kao otapala koja isparavaju dok premazni materijal otvrdnjava na površini drva. Zbog strogih propisa o tim opasnim hlapljivim organskim spojevima kupci diljem svijeta prelaze na vodene premazne materijale. Dva najčešće upotrebljavana premazna materijala za drvo u Indiji jesu poliuretanski i nitrocelulozni (NC) lak. Cilj rada bio je usporediti ta dva premazna materijala s istim premaznim materijalima na bazi vode. Istraživanje je provedeno na drvu Melia dubia. Kemijska karakterizacija otvrdnutih premaza provedena je primjenom FTIR spektroskopije. Također su proučavani sjaj i debljina fi lma. Identifi cirane su skupine uretana, ureje i nitratne skupine koje su pridonijele razumijevanju promjena u kemijskoj strukturi premaza nakon otvrdnjavanja. Debljina premaza na bazi organskih otapala bila je znatno veća od debljine premaza na bazi vode. Uočeno je da je sjaj premaza na bazi vode manji od sjaja premaza na bazi organskih otapala. Za NC lak to je smanjenje bilo do 33 %, a sjaj PU laka smanjio se za oko 54 %.