Varnish or similar to protect wood

colm_c

I have a nice wooden coffee table, recycled teak.

There is no sealer/varnish on it.

Is there something I can put on it to protect it a little, varnish or oil or sealer?

Total newbie to wood finishing.

enricoh

Teak oil- brings it to life.

SpitfireIV

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058226299/varnish-or-similar-to-protect-wood

Depends on a few factors really. Would you prefer the natural look of the wood or something easier to wipe off spills, take some use and abuse? If the former, then as mentioned teak oil is suitable. If the latter then build up a few coats of a polyurethane varnish, a nice satin if you don't want it shiney and looking too plasticity.

magicbastarder

a neighbour has a kitchen table which is almost certainly teak, and she's asked me would i be able to restore the table top; it's lost a lot of finish, but i don't know yet if there's physical damage. should be easy enough to strip back, but i need to do some research on what a suitable finish would be for a dining/kitchen table, as that'll get a lot of use/abuse.

i've often used danish oil but suspect that might not be durable enough.

dathi

acid catalysed lacquer or pre cat lacquer is probably best for a table i have an elm kitchen table done about 20 years with Becker acroma satin lacquer, which is now called Sherwin Williams gets dogs abuse and is still perfect

magicbastarder

cheers, i got a look at the table last night; loads of finish missing; apparently they'd taken an italian student in as a lodger who used to clean it by spraying bleach onto it and leaving it stand for ten minutes before wiping it off. it's a g-plan so definitely worth rescuing.

Markcheese

Won't teak oil darken the wood further ?

I like the finish of danish oil ,. And have it on a coffee table but doubt it'll be enough for the kitchen table I'm refinishing - which I think is just pine , I'm thinking of waxing it ? .. maybe .. ( I want a fairly matt finish)

cnocbui

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118553455#Comment_118553455

It depends on what sort of final finish and usage they want. Do they want it to look like 'bare' wood and that will mark with coffe and wet glass rings and spills - oiled - or something low maintainace and shiny wipeable?

If it really is teak - it's reputed to be a naturally oily wood and you might want to read this: https://lastfiascorun.com/cities/question-can-you-varnish-teak.html

magicbastarder

this is a photo - you can see the leaves which were folded away are nearly pristine, i've suggested i take one leaf at a time and if it's solid (it doesn't look like a veneer i think), i can do some tests on the underside first to check colour etc.

the finish which is in good condition is still reasonably glossy - certainly not a hard gloss, though.

cnocbui

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118558425#Comment_118558425

There is an utterly amazing polyurethane based floor sealer for commercial high traffic areas that can be used on wood - Bona Kemi Traffic - that doesn't darken wood the way most products do, but it's very expensive as you can ony get it in 5L containers.

I used it on my cork flooring 20 years ago and there is essentially no wear, still. That makes it not expensive, even at almost £100 for 5L.

I would only ever use Bona products for anything now.

magicbastarder

this stuff has just been recommended to me by a chap who has restored plenty of furniture:

https://www.polyvine.com/index.php/en/?option=com_content&view=article&id=99

apparently MRCB on high street in dublin stock it.

SpitfireIV

As dathi mentioned above I recently used a Sherwin Williams precat polyurethane, brushed on about 4 coats. It dries very quick but I left it for about 24 hours before reapplying another coat after a light sanding with progressively finer grits up to P400. It could be flatted back and polished up if you so choose but I didn't go this far.

IMG_20220131_175718.jpg

Table top came up really nice, good thick layer of poly on top and can take all the trials and tribulations that a kitchen table will suffer! Beware however, the smell from this one is strong when applying.

magicbastarder

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118558814#Comment_118558814

MRCB only had dead flat finish left in this, so i just went for a ronseal extra tough satin poly. seems to have finished well, the wood came up better than i'd expected. three coats on so far, might do a fourth.

Samson1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118645458#Comment_118645458

Just bought this (ronseal extra tough satin poly) this week. Currently testing it on previously varnished and also painted samples, and seems to be turning out great so far.

It seems to be that this needs to be applied heavier than that water-based-varnish stuff - have you found that??

magicbastarder

I thinned it out a little before applying (by only a couple of percent I'd say) and it brushes on nicely. The first coat took weirdly long to dry, was a little tacky for a few days, but a good bit of it had sunk into the wood. The subsequent coats dried in a the time claimed on the tin.