To limit wood damage, preserve furniture AND keep it looking natural you'll want to seal raw wood with Liming or Cerusing wax. Any other wax or poly (from my experience) will darken the wood, enhance orange tones and change the color.
Polycrylic topcoats are my sealer of choice for most projects, as they don't tend to yellow as often as polyurethane. Clear furniture wax can also be used to seal natural wood projects. Furniture wax provides a soft, silky finish to a piece, which can be lovely.
Wood can be left unfinished if it won't encounter weather, water or significant handling. If your project is placed outside, will be somewhere wet, or will be used on a regular basis, then you should apply wood finish. There's a bit more too it, though, so let's dive in! Note: This blog contains affiliate links.
Shellac. In my opinion, shellac is the best natural wood finish for one main reason: it's the most protective natural finish on the market. Unlike other options, shellac forms a barrier on top of the wood, stopping water, dirt, and other things (*cough*crayon*cough) from reaching the pores of the wood.
To seal wood properly first prepare the surface by sanding it smooth and, if you like, staining it a color. Then you can apply a sealant, but there are many to choose from. The three most common sealants are polyurethane, shellac, and lacquer, and each requires a different method of application.
-If it is a piece that will get a fair amount of use – like a tabletop; apply a coat or two of soft beeswax based paste wax to protect it.
Your goal with your wood project decides whether you want to use wax or linseed oil. Wax only stops the wood from graying. Linseed oil adds to the wood's beauty. Wax doesn't penetrate the wood, but linseed oil does, offering enhanced wood protection.
Yes! A polyurethane wood finish looks beautiful and is one of the most durable top coats for wood finishes. It works great on stained wood, raw wood, weathered wood finishes, and painted wood finishes too.
All unfinished wood or bare wood surfaces should always be primed prior to painting. This goes for both interior and exterior paint projects. The reason you cannot skip bare wood priming is that wood is porous and has a grainy surface. Because primer contains high solids, it helps fill grains in the new wood.
If your piece has knots, sand them until they're even with the grain. Dust furniture: To remove residual grit, you can use a clean cloth or a vacuum. Prime: To seal the wood, roll or paint a coat of primer over the entire piece. You can also use spray primer.
Danish oil works best on new and untreated woods. Compared to linseed oil, it is more of a thin oil and varnish mixture with a faster drying time. When applying Danish oil, it will take approximately 15 minutes to soak into the wood.
Wood is dried-out and dull if you do not apply some sort of sealer. Staining and finishing are two very different things. By applying pigments, a stain is meant to darken or dye wood, but the wood is not preserved by staining.
Linseed oil is one of the best oils to use for wood finishes because it penetrates deep into the grain of the wood, giving it a rich color and protecting it against moisture.
Wax is a very versatile finish and can be applied over bare wood and most finished woods very easily, it will add some protection, lustre and shine and give an over all refreshed appearance.
What are traditional wood oils? Whilst there are many 'old school' wood oils, the most commonly used are without a doubt Danish oil, Teak oil, Tung oil and to a lesser degree Linseed oil.
Wax, oil and varnish are three materials that will protect your furniture and that you can easily apply at home yourself. The three options will maintain the most "natural" aspect of the furniture, preserving the grain of the wood without adding big touches of colour, as paints, lacquers, etc. would do.
Overall, varnish is an excellent choice for those who want to protect their wood surfaces and maintain a natural appearance. Polyurethane is an excellent way to protect your wood surfaces from water damage and wear and tear. It is also ideal for enhancing the natural appearance of wood, as it offers a warm, amber tone.
The best option is to use a varnish or lacquer to give the wood a high gloss finish. While varnish can be sprayed or brushed on, lacquer is best applied by simple spraying. Spraying makes the surface seem finer than painting as it doesn't leave any strokes behind.
Apply the conditioner to the wood with a foam brush, a lint-free rag, or with a natural bristle brush for oil-based conditioner and a synthetic bristle brush for water-based. Apply in the direction of the grain so that it's more easily absorbed.
Linseed Oil and Tung Oil are the traditional natural finishing oils for wood. These are the two toughest natural oil finishes, with tung oil being the toughest. Both are great for wood floors.