Best clear varnish for pine wood bannister

taniya94

Hi there I’m hoping someone can help! Recently decided to redo our stair bannisters. When we bought the house it came with that very dark orangey wood finish so we sanded it down as we prefer the pine light wood colour and want to keep it this colour. We bought Ronseal satin clear varnish however it turns out it’s not clear and stained it back to the orangey colour we didn’t want. I made the mistake of buying this which is a solvent oil based varnish when I should’ve bought a water based one. Currently looking at buying the Sadolin clear varnish as it’s water based but was wondering if this would also end up staining the wood and if there are any better alternatives I’m not aware of, out there or what product I should be using to ensure it stays protected but as light wood. Thanks

Mutton_Geoff

The best way to see what colour it will go is to wipe the bare prepped wood with a damp cloth. If you're happy with the natural colour then a decent clear varnish like Fiddes or even oil like Osmo would work.

es5595

I’d highly recommend using danish wood oil or similar. It really brings out the natural look of wood, and protects it very well. 

Also, maybe test out a small patch first!