Is it ok to use Interior varnish for outdoors?

Cianos

The wooden bench in the back garden is in need of a varnish. I only have a tin of interior varnish though. Since I don't really have the money to buy more varnish, I did a search and found that;

The only difference between interior and exterior products is the ratio of curing oil to resin. More oil produces more flexibility, but the film will be softer. Flexibility is needed for exterior projects that are subject to temperature extremes of hot and cold. More resin produces a harder film and is best used indoors.

Both the interior and exterior products can be used interchangeably. For the best result with an exterior project use an exterior rated product. (source)

This sounds to me like exterior varnish is more necessary for places where there's more extreme weather conditions...ie not our mild climate here?

Any advice appreciated!

demanufactured

you dont normally use varnish on outdoor furniture , you use a weather resistant woodstain instead.

sadolin and ronseal are good ones.

fintonie

there would be no problem using it outside the only thing is it wont last long,

it will flake shortly after its been applied once it gets weathered, this will leave it ugly looking plus you may need to sand it down completely to do the job properly.

interior inside, exterior outside, it does exactly what it says on the tin.

spadder

The UV light will break down an interior varnish very quickly.

fatchance

Never ever use interior varnish outdoors, its a disaster! Eventually the varnish breaks down and cracks and water gets underneath it giving it that horrible grey streaky look.

I use Sikkens, specially designed for outdoor use. Used it on my front door and it looks fantastic. Sikkens is the brand, they have various colours but I use clear pine, the teak version on teak can be very dark.

Cianos

thanks for the replies...guess I'll have to go for the proper stuff so!