Varnish for pine

[Andrew Gabriel]

One wall of my dining room is pine. I like the colour of newly sanded light pine, but this has darkened since it was last sanded and varnished (probably 20 years ago by previous owners). Before I embark on the rather mammoth and incredibly boring task of sanding and varnishing it again (previous owners said they would never have started it if they had any idea how much work was involved), is there something I can do to prevent it darkening in the future, such as a special varnish or some pre-varnish dressing?

By the way, this isn't just some pine panelling someone has added, it is the original 1900 solid pine wall -- the boards are around an inch thick T&G, self-supporting with no additional structure.

[Jeff]

I like my pine the same, light and I also like the natural look rather than the plasticky varnished look hence I always use clear acrylic varnish as its the only thing I found that doesn't darken the wood and leaves a waxed look to it But the wood does darken with age and lightens in the sun

Regards Jeff

[Andy Dingley]

As something of an oddity, yours may actually be pine. Almost all pine these days (esp. the "naughty pine" furniture) isn't - it's usually hemlock. All of these will darken with age, but pine especially so.

Also most varnishes, especially polys, will darken the surface further. Some of the water-based deliberately "water clear" ones will do it less. This is most noticeable on the really light softwoods, much less so on pines. I tend to use blonde shellac rather than poly, partly to avoid this.

On the whole, you're stuffed. Softwoods darken with age and there's little you can do about it. Sand the surface off if you like, but it'll darken again. If you're desperate for pale wood, use maple or ash instead.

[Chris Bacon]

1) Paint it. 2) Paint it - "graining".

HTH.

[Nick Atty]

I've got varnished (clear satin poly-u) pine doors and you can see them darkening. I really like the colour pine goes after a few years. Perhaps bright sunshine lightens them, but a lot of the darkening is also caused by light: I've got one of those wide bolts on the loo door, and the wood that is covered by it when not locked is notably lighter than the rest after about 2 years.