"Spamlet" wrote in
:

In my experience this is a case for the diamond hard polyurethane:
and, conveniently, that comes in 'old/antique' pine: though try some
first, as I've noticed some are a nice brown colour, and others rather
over the top yellow. Especially if you have some nice grain on the
stair posts - polish it well with sanding paper first: comes up a
treat. Eggshell is what I generally use, but on those post tops some
gloss shows off the grain to perfection.

Ordinary varnish always feels tacky and picks up the dirt - especially
on those posts! -, but the diamond hard feels nice and dry and is
fairly easy to clean. You don't really want to wax or silicone type
polish, unless you particularly want the kids to use it as a slide: it
is there for *grip* after all: you don't want your granny to fall when
she goes to grab the rail with her gloves on.

S

Thanks. Is this the stuff you used?: http://tinyurl.com/2uvbj4d

Wow - it's expensive!

Al