On Sat, 22 Nov 2008 10:23:44 -0800 (PST), Empedocles
wrote:

On Nov 18, 10:17 pm, Empedocles wrote:
I have a new teak dining table, well finished, & ready to go. I want
to protect the surface from spills, etc. I thought to buy teak oil,
but reading posts elsewhere, it doesn't do much to give the kind of
protection I want. There is a combination tung/teak oil product & I
wonder about using that.

What I want is a product I can wipe on with a rag & wipe off the
excess, but which will still give me the protection. I don't want to
sand/steel wool between coats. I just want one application to
initially seal the porous wood. This is asking a lot.

Here are some choices I've run across & I'd like someone's opinion/
experience with. I'd really like it if I can find the product in my
local Ace Hardware, Home Depot, etc.:

Oil/Varnish mixtures like Behr Scandinavian Tung Oil Finish, Minwax
Tung Oil Finish, Watco Danish Oil, etc.

Thinnned or Wiping Varnishes like Minway (Minwax?) Wiping Varnish,
Watco Wiping Varnish, Formby's Tung Oil Finish, etc.

I've also thought of a polyurethane satin, as I don't want a sheen,
but polyurethane application is with a brush, producing bubble
problems & I don't want to deal with that.

I've thought of Thompson's Water Seal, but that may leave an
unpleasant odor.

Would appreciate any opinions/experiences. I'm a novice.

Everyone here has been helpful, esp. dadiOH. Lew Hodgett suggested
Scott's Liquid Gold (SLG) & I've done some research, based on what
dadiOH told me Do not apply a product containing alcohol over a
lacquer finish. SLG's ingredients do not include alcohol; it is a
naphtha-based product.

When my seller warned me not to use Pledge-type products, I vaguely
remembered something silicone. Sure enough, Pledge has silicone.
After dadiOH's information tung/teak, etc., oils & how they're
marketed, I've decided: No alcohol, no silicone, no oil.

Unless someone warns me SLG, I think that's what I'm going to use.

David



I still suggest that for best results and no regrets, you should
contact the manufacturer. That would be very simple, easy and prevent
possible problems. I can't think of a downside to asking the person
who made the furniture, how to best care for it.