I bought 6 new Ikea Ivar shelves (the large 83cm x 50cm ones) recently and several are really resinous, too much so for applying varnish, I reckon. For pine I have always used the satin water-based clear varnish, which Ikea themselves used to sell, but now no longer do (in the UK at least).
Since it is at least 20 years since I last bought Ivar shelves I can't recall whether those back then were just as reinous as the ones today. Over the years the existing shelves and side supports have all mellowed to mid-brown without any trace of resin.
The new shelves smell wonderful, almost like walking through a forest, but when I run my hand over the surface I think, nah, that surely won't take the water-based varnish yet. So how long will it be before they "dry out"? Weeks? Months?
MM