Natural hardwood stair rail refinishing?

[stoobloo]

We have a stair rail with painted spindles, and what we think is varnished handrails.

What can we do to keep the natural colour of the handrail but have a clear glossy finish?

I was thinking of sanding and then using varnish? But which varnishes are good for a decent long lasting finish? Not sure expecting perfection but not sure where to start.

 

[opps]

Difficult to comment without images.

Other than varnish, you could, possibly, consider french polish or button polish. You will end up with a high sheen finish. I don't have much experience of polishing but I have been happy to take on a few handrails over the year. It is pretty easy to work with and easy to maintain.

I cannot comment on the varnish (or not) currently in place. Ideally you would sand the whole lot back. If oil based, if you do not sand all of it away, you will see a yellow, outer corona effect on the bits not sanded back sufficiently. Water based varnish tend to be more forgiving in that respect. Unfortunately, waterbased paints/varnish are not very good at dealing with the oils in peoples' hands. The finish becomes soft and eventually fails the "finger nail" test.