Best finish on this window sill? What you reckon?

[CluelessDIYer1]

The plan was to just paint the window sill white, be it gloss or satin (probably satin). The majority of the windowsills in the house are a browny/reddy colour.

I took to sanding it & it went patchy, so i took the heat gun to it.

It started off like so...



But when i heat gunned it, it came up like so...



Which i quite like to be honest & made me think twice about painting white.

So what alternatives are open & more importantly - 1) do they require upkeep & 2) what do they provide?

I can think of
wax
stain
varnish
& obviously paint.

I know what paint provides. The other 3 i'm not so sure.

Wax i imagine it'd leave the wood greasy.
Not sure what to expect from staining. A light version of painting?
Varnish i imagine would leave it tacky to the touch?

I don't want something that requires coating every 5 minutes.

What would you recommend? Or would you just leave as is?

 

[foxhole]

Try Osmo oil range.

 

[pinenot]

Wax will certainly not leave the wood greasy and furniture polishing it afterwards would be the only maintenance required, I did this to some antique doors, like yours when the paint was removed (heat gun and or paint stripper, in my case) the patina recovered was nice, I sealed the doors with melted beeswax and buffed them up with a clean shoe polish brush, beautiful and smelt beautiful for by...pinenot

 

[brightsparkey]

stain only changes the colour, and generally to a darker one.

wax is usually used as a final finish and wont protect the wood from cup rings/water marks etc.

If you want to bring out the natural grain then an oil finish is excellent, and then if you want a shine to it, add wax as a polish.

Danish oil is a setting oil - it goes hard after a few days and leaves the wood silky both in touch and lustre. Add a hard wax polish to get it shiny if you like that sort of thing. Oil may need re-applying every 3-4 years depending on how much wear it gets, but this is just a quick rub down with wire wool and white spirit, then reapply one coat of oil.

Polyurethane varnish is easy to apply - just like paint, but I always find it ages poorly, eventually going yellow and sticky if exposed to much sun.

Kevin.