Thread: Keeping teaks prefinished colour

Yes, teak has a great unfinished colour and grain.

All finishes darken timber to some degree, the 'lightest' finish seems to be dewaxed white shellac

You'll have to find the polyu varnish that is 'clearest' and darkens the timber the least.

good luck with it.

Cool,
I've since also tried teak oil, which looks fantastic but still a bit dark. Could I go the white shellac and then teak oil on top instead of the polyu?

Shellac is a natural varnish, when applied it will soak in a bit and also form a film on top of the timber, and is not suited to furniture that gets use/abuse. A wax on shellac is usual, and wax needs applications yearly at least.
Its fiddley as it is not recommended for wet or heat (from glasses and plates) as it will show white marks due to the wet/heat.

Oils (and I'll be careful because oils aint oils ~ are we talking a natural oil or a mix which likely contains polyu?) will soak into the timber, and then dry out on top to leave a film.
The filming effects are sped up with driers, heat or the addition of polyu.

Shellac seals the surface, while oils need to soak into the surface.
Oil on shellac just leaves an oily film on top of the shellac.

Oils aint oils e.g. Natural linseed oil needs repeated coatings as it is soaked up by the
timber and takes months to stop being oily and tacky... Boiled linseed oil needs less coats as it dries and films sooner, it has terebin added as a drier.
Your Bunnings paint section will have a 'teak oil', which will be a complex formula with polyu added to be a bit of a 'one application, quick drying, repeat twice a year' formula. It may have colour added to it to 'bring out teaks golden colour', a bit of yellow tinting.

I guess the point is that untreated teak will darken no matter what you do, and you need to decide on the type of treatment for the use it will take. Its the pro's and con's of each treatment that you need to weigh up.

A tip is that you should consider the finish and its effect on the timber while choosing the timber... its all a trade off. A bit like a motor... change one thing and you won't really get what you want, you've got to think of all the other factors.

Frankly I'd oil and then wax it...because I like that type of finish. I also like the darkening of teak with an oil based finish to bring out the grain, but thats my preference.

Shellac on its own is great, and you can get 'clear' waxes... but be prepared to put down table cloths and placemats and to have a less durable, easy to mark, finish.

If its retro, embrace the colour change and just get a polyu varnish that is as clear as possible, wax it with furniture polish and enjoy it.

https://www.woodworkforums.com/f187/q...41/index2.html

maybe take a look at this... Orraloon is about to do the finish, and previous photo's show the natural timber grain.

Originally Posted by Clinton1

Shellac is a natural varnish, when applied it will soak in a bit and also form a film on top of the timber, and is not suited to furniture that gets use/abuse. A wax on shellac is usual, and wax needs applications yearly at least.
Its fiddley as it is not recommended for wet or heat (from glasses and plates) as it will show white marks due to the wet/heat.

Oils (and I'll be careful because oils aint oils ~ are we talking a natural oil or a mix which likely contains polyu?) will soak into the timber, and then dry out on top to leave a film.
The filming effects are sped up with driers, heat or the addition of polyu.

Shellac seals the surface, while oils need to soak into the surface.
Oil on shellac just leaves an oily film on top of the shellac.

Oils aint oils e.g. Natural linseed oil needs repeated coatings as it is soaked up by the
timber and takes months to stop being oily and tacky... Boiled linseed oil needs less coats as it dries and films sooner, it has terebin added as a drier.
Your Bunnings paint section will have a 'teak oil', which will be a complex formula with polyu added to be a bit of a 'one application, quick drying, repeat twice a year' formula. It may have colour added to it to 'bring out teaks golden colour', a bit of yellow tinting.

I guess the point is that untreated teak will darken no matter what you do, and you need to decide on the type of treatment for the use it will take. Its the pro's and con's of each treatment that you need to weigh up.

A tip is that you should consider the finish and its effect on the timber while choosing the timber... its all a trade off. A bit like a motor... change one thing and you won't really get what you want, you've got to think of all the other factors.

Frankly I'd oil and then wax it...because I like that type of finish. I also like the darkening of teak with an oil based finish to bring out the grain, but thats my preference.

Shellac on its own is great, and you can get 'clear' waxes... but be prepared to put down table cloths and placemats and to have a less durable, easy to mark, finish.

If its retro, embrace the colour change and just get a polyu varnish that is as clear as possible, wax it with furniture polish and enjoy it.

Wow thank you for your great reply Clinton.
I should add that the table and chairs I'm doing, is only timber on the chairs and on a decorative part that comes off the metal legs to the underside of the tabletop (I'm putting a laminate top onto it). So the issues with moisture and durability aren't that important (at least I think).

Bunnings here in Coffs Harbour, actually didn't have teak oil, but I got that Wattyl teak oil from thriftylink.

I might experiment with the shellac and wax. I can always sand it back and go again ha.

Again thanks so much, if only I could buy you a beer through this forum.

thanks mate.

I should point you to here it is the finishing handbook made by the forum sponsor 'ubeaut'.. great value, easy to read...