I've installed a couple of stair handrails in my house. They are made of
pine which I have stained. What would be the most suitable finish: button
polish, or teak oil or is the difference insignificant?

I tried using something called Antique Oil from B&Q but it didn't go off
properly for some reason. It ended up drying to a kind of waxy finish that
I could scratch away with a finger nail, and that was after about a month
of drying. I ened up removing it all. Maybe it was past its use-by date or
something.

Thank you,
Al

On Jul 2, 9:22*pm, "AL_n" wrote:
I've installed a couple of stair handrails in my house. They are made of
pine which I have stained. What would be the most suitable finish: button
polish, or teak oil or is the difference insignificant?

Best finish is "Patina", a gel polyurethane. Screwfix used to have it,
now I have to buy it in Lancashire, where they make it.

Otherwise a danish oil (an oil varnish blend) will work pretty well,
as a compromise between a hardened film-forming oil and a varnish.

Shellac (your button polish) is too shiny & slippery for grip on a
handrail.

Teak oil is a non film-forming oil - i.e. one that sinks right in.
Doesn't look too bad in some cases, but it will only last at all on a
good tropical hardwood. On softwood, even on most UK hardwoods,
there's not enough of a robust surface to it. It's also a rip-off
price! If you want oil (and it's not justified on pine, even if your
handrails are actually pine rather than the more likely hemlock or
spruce) then a commecially blend tung oil base is a better starting
point. Try Liberon's "Finishing Oil".

"AL_n" wrote in message
...
I've installed a couple of stair handrails in my house. They are made of
pine which I have stained. What would be the most suitable finish: button
polish, or teak oil or is the difference insignificant?

I tried using something called Antique Oil from B&Q but it didn't go off
properly for some reason. It ended up drying to a kind of waxy finish that
I could scratch away with a finger nail, and that was after about a month
of drying. I ened up removing it all. Maybe it was past its use-by date or
something.

Thank you,
Al

Varnish. You will need to et the stuff you previously applied off first
though.

Some of the stuff you mention is intended to soak into timber. If it can't
soak in, it won'tdry.

"harryagain" wrote in
:

Some of the stuff you mention is intended to soak into timber. If it
can't soak in, it won'tdry.

That explains the problem. I initially applied some acrylic spray laquer,
which I ran out of, and then applied the Antique oil, thinking "Well, it's
just a kind of thin varnish, so why not?"

You live and learn! I will start again from scratch.

Thanks also to Andy for the Tung oil suggestion.

Al