Replies

1. 
   esch5995 | Oct 29, 2020 01:41pm | #1

   Given the wear and tear a handrail must endure a polyurethane varnish, preferably one rated for floors would be my recommendation. Since I'm old school, translated old, I would choose oil based but if that's not available to you I'm sure there are acceptable Water-based products that would be okay. As for specific brands I don't know if you are in Europe, but from your paint choice it would be my first guess, I don't know what products you have available.

2. 
   john_c2 | Oct 29, 2020 02:35pm | #2

   I'm with esch. An oil finish or shellac won't be durable enough, given the use a handrail will endure. You could go into more specialty finishes like a marine varnish, but a top quality poly will work just great.

3. 
   Kris332 | Oct 29, 2020 02:59pm | #3

   Thanks for your recommendations! I am in New England! Fine Paints of Europe are from Vermont, but based on a Dutch product I think. Should I shellac the wood first or go straight to poly? I will use the best oil-based poly I can find. When I have used water-based poly on a floor it did not wear well at all. I just want this staircase and esp the 4 newel posts to be beautiful after all this work!!

4. 
   esch5995 | Oct 29, 2020 04:26pm | #4

   I don't see any advantage to a coat of shellac myself others may feel differently.

   I would thin the first coat of poly maybe 25% but read the label. Then apply 2 full strength coats, scuffing in between coats with a gray Scotchbrite pad. Be sure to let each coat dry sufficiently but not too much. Most manufacturers will have a recommended recoat window when you get maximum adhesion between coats without risking trapping solvents behind subsequent coats, typically 4-5 hours but read the label.

5. 
   john_c2 | Oct 29, 2020 05:23pm | #5

   I use shellac (dewaxed) under waterborne poly, because it adds color and depth. Oil based poly alone will be fine.

6. 
   Kris332 | Oct 29, 2020 06:45pm | #6

   excellent! I have a plan now:) Thank you I am going to try to attach the in process pics and then maybe the done pics later! Only one of the pics wants to load.....

   
7. 
   john_c2 | Oct 30, 2020 03:50am | #7

   Very nice. That was a lot of work, cleaning up those handrails. Really nice.

8. 
   lat_axe | Oct 30, 2020 08:03am | #8

   Here's an alternative: one coat of clear wax and 40 years of hand-oil patina.

   As with some other highly practical pieces of furnishing, a handrail is made primarily for utility not looks. Yet the look acquired by years of handling is in fact attractive, despite not looking like a shiny new plastic one just out of some modern furniture shop.

   Some like to have their furniture as decoration as well as a thing of utility. Nothing wrong with that. But there's some dissonance between, for example, the look of a pristine and shiny kitchen table with it's purpose. The same applies to a handrail, I feel. A handrail should look .... handled.

   Lataxe

9. 
   Kris332 | Oct 30, 2020 11:26am | #9

   I agree with you Lataxe, that is why I am concerned about poly. I want it to be something you want to touch because we touch it all the time! The profile of the original handrail fits perfectly in one's hand, while the newer handrail from a big box store is not nearly as comfortable to hold. I want to switch the newer handrails out if I can find a similar profile handrail as the original. Now I have to reconsider the poly option for a finish. Any other thoughts on that? Thanks!

10. 
    john_c2 | Oct 30, 2020 11:54am | #10

    Poly becomes objectionable when too many coats build up. Think that epoxy bar top finish. The solution is, don't put on so many coats that you stop liking how it looks. Put on a coat, let it cure, rub it down with some 0000 steel wool, see how it looks. For me, I'd want two coats.

    Just wax on a handrail will look nice until you start using it. Wax will pick up grime like a vacuum. It will look like crap in short order. You'll be stripping off the soft crud and reapplying all the time.

    I had a friend who insisted on using only wax on a refinished floor. He stuck stubbornly to his theory, even after he altered the way he lived and spent all his time taking care of the floor. It just isn't worth it.

11. 
    lat_axe | Oct 30, 2020 12:33pm | #11

    I can't agree with John_C2 on this one - not concerning the handrail at least. You can make a case for putting something tougher on wooden floor boards, as they have a large amount of dirt trod into them. This isn't the case with handrails on stairs - unless you have a household full of engine mechanics who don't wash their hands before nipping upstairs for a jimmyriddle. :-)

    In the previous house we lived in for 25 years, which was inhabited by another family with 6 children for the previous 43 years, the stair handrail was old pitch pine attached with black iron brackets. It wasn't "finished" with anything when new; and had only ever been cleaned with a damp cloth and an occasional waxing.

    The wax, if it's a softish beeswax-based polish, will actually clean off most dirt but retain enough to create a very attractive patina over time. That pitch pine handrail is a rich reddish-brown with a beautiful polished matt sheen. Contrast it with the pitch pine newel posts, which had been painted over until we moved in. The newels are still new-looking wood whereas the handrail has .... patina.

    This is what a patina is, in most old furniture - a gradual build of dust, dirt and wax. It's rather attractive, especially if you add a few decades of human skin oil application.

    Handrails are not going to get seriously dirty. They'll just pick up human skin oils and the sort of dusty dirt that's easily removed with anything that cleans via a temporary solvent, such as the water in a damp cloth or the solvent in wax furniture polish.

    *****

    You could darken the wood with spirit dye or even a coat of some basic quick-drying furniture oil such as tung or similar. Once it's fully dried off, a coat of wax every week or month will introduce that slowly-building matt sheen on top of the slightly oil-darkened wood.

    Sometimes less is more. And don't forget the pleasure of delayed gratification, as you contemplate the patina of your handrail in 40 years time, when the children have flown the nest leaving only a history of marks about the place - including that handrail patina.

    Lataxe

    
12. 
    esch5995 | Oct 30, 2020 02:10pm | #12

    Lat_axe

    LOL. We Americans seldom live in the same house for 20 years let alone 40 to appreciate that hand rubbed patina.

    I will stand-by my poly suggestion. A quality satin polyurethane applied properly, sprayed if feasible, will be not only attractive, but durable and imminently touchable. The keys to success are proper prep in this case I would sand to 320-360 on all visible surfaces, thin the first coat for a little better penetration, then apply 2 more coats, thinned only if the poly is overly thick, scuffing between coats with a gray Scotchbrite pad and if you desire or feel dust nibs a white Scotchbrite or 0000 steel wool after it's thoroughly dry a minimum of 72 hours.

13. 
    _mj_ | Oct 30, 2020 02:27pm | #13

    2 coats of danish oil as per the can directions. Let it dry for a week-10 days, follow with a coat of satin poly applied with a cloth. Look at it. If you like it you're done.

14. 
    Kris332 | Oct 30, 2020 02:42pm | #14

    Oh, I like the last recommendation of oil to replenish the wood and letting it absorb and dry so the poly will stick and offer long-lasting protection. It just seems after 120 years, the wood might want some replenishing oil!