Interior pine doors - Varnish, Briwax or Danish oil?

[JONXLR8]

I'm planning a redocoration of the front room at the moment so will have plenty of questions coming up, but one of the first things will be to put a couple of pine doors up to stop dust getting elsewhere in the house (fireplace and plaster removal).

Both will probably be plain or knotty pine, and one will have glass panels in. Wickes do a knotty pine for £35 which looked much better quality than the B&Q version for the same price. Although I am keeping my eye on ebay to see if any second hand bargains come up nearby.

Other doors in the house are varnished knotty pine.

I can't decide on what to use, the way I see it I have the following choices:

Rustins Clear Matt varnish
Johnstones Woodworks Clear Satin Varnish
Briwax
Danish oil

I guess varnish will be the most durable but I'm hearing good things about Danish oil and like the sound of a more natural finish, so would be interested to see what other people recommend.

Also, by which method / order should these products be applied to the new door:

treat - cut - fit - treat cut areas
cut - treat - fit
cut - fit - treat

Any advice appreciated, thanks

 

[Pigeon85]

All depends on the look you are wanting, i use a lot of Danish oil on furniture at work at it really does bring out the colour in the wood and also brings out the grain and knots a lot more as for the process cut treat then fit it just easier that way, have you considered looking in reclamation yards for doors, they would have some nice solid doors there

 

[JONXLR8]

Thanks for your reply, I think I'll give the Danish oil a go. Any particular brand worth getting or are they all pretty much the same? Any idea how much I'd need to buy for two doors?

Just been having a look for local yards, might take a drive out to a few places at the weekend.

Would the cut treat fit method also be the most sensible for skirting board too?

 

[Pigeon85]

I use barrentine Danish oil, have never actually used any others so couldn't say if it was best or even if they are all the same, as for the skirting board if you have plenty of room and a work bench or similar to lay it out and oil up then go for it but oiling it when it's in place isn't difficult, just a bit more care needed because of carpets etc, little tip I would give is to glue the skirting with grip fill or something similar so you don't have to fill any holes.

 

[opps]

Just to add to the good advice you have had so far.

If you want a non-yellowed finish then go for the WB varnishes. They will however swell the grain.

Wax is fine if you want the doors to develop a "lived in" look. They will need sealing first though.

Danish will darken (read: yellow) the pine but will be very resilient to knocks and dings. The sheen level will depend on how thick you apply it. Danish is probably the easiest to apply: wipe on wipe off.

Do pay heed to the advice on the tin about laying wipes flat to dry. They can spontaneously combust. Also wear gloves, it is quite sticky. I normally put the paper in the glove, fill it with water and bin them

 

[JONXLR8]

Thanks both, yes I used the gripfill method on the skirting in the living room and it worked a treat.

I'm actually going for MDF skirting so will be painting that white satin, but I guess the cut, paint fit method still applies.

Would 500ml be enough for the two doors do you think? Been doing a bit of shopping around:

Toolstation £6.25
Ebay £7.19
Amazon £9.26
Screwfix £9.49
Wickes £9.99
B&Q £11.98
Homebase £12.59

Thanks for the tip on the combustable wipes.

 

[joe-90]

In my opinion you should listen to opps advice about WB varnishes. All the others will give you that horrid orange pine that looks like an 80s Wickes showroom.

 

[Pigeon85]

To confuse you more, when painting the skirting you will need to fix it to the wall first so you can then back fill the skirting (fill the gap between wall and skirting) but would also say leave that part until you are ready to decorate the whole room.

 

[matz]

dont wax directly onto bare wood - it'll end up pasty, sticky and dull looking...

and will be hard work