Protect an Oil Finish

[Tim McCarthy]

About 30 years ago, I built a china cabinet with Honduras Mahogany and finished it with Watco Oil. It needs some TLC now and I plan to do the "once a day for a week---blah, blah" to get it back in shape. Question is: what can I put over that to keep it from needing periodic maintenance. I am ideally looking for something that can be wiped on so I can refinish it in place. (It's chock full and heavy as a dump truck). I'd also like UV protection as one side of it gets quite a bit of sun. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Tim

[John TenEyck]

If you clean it really well I would think a few more coats of Danish Oil is all it will need to look really good again. Danish Oil offers pretty good protection for things that don't het used hard, and a china cabinet should fall under that category. It has no UV protection, however. I'd consider putting UV absorbing film on the windows that need it to shield the cabinet rather than using a film finish that contains UV protection.

John

[Jim Becker]

Danish Oil, including the Watco type is an oil/varnish mixture that cures. But it's a thin coating and not going to be super resilient to physical abuse for obvious reasons. You can improve the durability by using any wipe-on oil based finish without dramatically changing the look of the piece. Use a low luster version (matte or flat) so you can build things up over 5-10 coats without adding a "varnish shine" to it. Be sure to thoroughly clean it before doing this.

[Tim McCarthy]

Thanks guys,

I think I will clean it carefully with naptha, then do a combination of both recommendations, including the window film.

Thanks again!

[Prashun Patel]

BTW, I don't think you'll need to do the whole 'once a day, once a week, once a month' regimen. In folklore that pertains to a boiled linseed oil finish. Danish oil deposits a small amount of varnish with each application.

I suspect you'll only need about 2-3 coats total to get back into show shape.

[Tim McCarthy]

Happy to hear that, I'm not getting any younger!!