Best finish for Softwood - to minimise darkening?

[scockram]

If possible.

So I'm making some shelves from scaffold boards. I like the inherent strength from the thickness, the chunky look and the lower cost. They're obviously made from softwood, (pine of some type?), and I know that that always darkens, considerably over time. Is there a finish out there that will leave the wood looking lighter for longer?

I normally use Danish Oil, or similar, but I think that will darken it straight away. My next thought would be Sanding Sealer.

Any advice please?

 

[Oscar43634]

Osmo Raw might be a good choice it has some white pigment in it to counteract the oil darkening the wood.

 

[imageel]

You could try staining it with some diluted white paint or primer 1st - the Scandinavians have used this technique for years to prevent pine from going that almost sickly orange hue after varnishing.
Plenty of commercial products aimed at this but tbh anything containing a fine white pigment would do, as long as it is compatible with whatever finish coat you are using..

 

[Calum Bettison]

I’ve used Osmo raw plenty of times which works well and looks great if you want the unfinished look. Only thing I’d say is to be frugal with it as it can easily give the wood a strange plasticky/milky look if you use too much.

 

[Roland]

Osmo is good. I also like acrylic lacquer:

 

[eribaMotters]

I've found that any acrylic/water based varnish should do a decent job as they seem to keep the wood paler. If you go to an oil based finish I find the colour gets warmer and often yellows, ending up like a 70's sauna.

Colin

 

[Fitzroy]

As above, water based rather than oil based.

 

[BucksDad]

Bents Woodworking just put a video out on YT this week about that topic. He was spraying some kind of 2K water based finish on oak - you can look it up, perhaps equivalents are available here as well. I was impressed with what he used, how unchanged it was from the natural oak

 

[thetyreman]

you may find nothing actually stops it from going darker, it's UV light that causes that over time, I'd go with laquer if you want a more durable finish.

 

[scockram]

Thanks all. I'm going give the Osmo Raw stuff a go then, following recommendations. I've been curious about their products for a while anyway.

What do people use to wash out brushes with? It says Osmo Brush Cleaner on the tin, but I'd rather do without that expense.

Edit. Answered my own question with a bit of research on the Osmo website. It looks like their brush cleaner is just posh White Spirit, so I'll just use bog standard W/S!

you may find nothing actually stops it from going darker, it's UV light that causes that over time, I'd go with laquer if you want a more durable finish.

I think you're right, (unless you paint the wood with something opaque, i.e. paint!), but I'd like to prolong it for as long as possible. I'm not after anything particularly durable as it's only shelves, but thanks.

 

[Furniture Restorer]

How did you get on with this? I have a suggestion if you haven't already finished your project.

 

[scockram]

Hi. Thanks for coming back to this.
I'm getting on well so far, with the Osmo Raw stuff. It seems to make the pine look a bit milky, but I'm happy with it anyway.
Two shelves done, with two more to do. I've paused proceedings for now as I figure that this cold weather will not be good for the oil going off. Even with a built in garage as a workshop, I think it's still less than 10 degrees in there.

I'm interested to hear your suggestion anyway please, for future reference. Thanks.


Not the best photos as it's evening so artificial lighting but here's an idea;

 

[Furniture Restorer]

Those look pretty good. I would be happy with that.
I use a shellac matting agent and white (shellac) polish if I want to produce a light finish.
The matting agent can be added to the white polish up to 20/80 and it kills the shine. It produces a nice mat/stain finish.
And being shellac it dries in minutes.

The finish on your shelves looks like it has a pigment suspended in it to produce the lightning effect.

 

[scockram]

Those look pretty good. I would be happy with that.
I use a shellac matting agent and white (shellac) polish if I want to produce a light finish.
The matting agent can be added to the white polish up to 20/80 and it kills the shine. It produces a nice mat/stain finish.
And being shellac it dries in minutes.

The finish on your shelves looks like it has a pigment suspended in it to produce the lightning effect.

Thank you. The short drying time of the shellac certainly sounds very tempting! The stuff I used takes 24 hours which is a bit of a pain. It talks about a high solid content on the can, I guess that's the suspended white pigment that you mentioned.
This is it;
https://osmouk.com/product/polyx-oil-effect-raw/#overview

 

[LeeAkeroyd]

If possible.

So I'm making some shelves from scaffold boards. I like the inherent strength from the thickness, the chunky look and the lower cost. They're obviously made from softwood, (pine of some type?), and I know that that always darkens, considerably over time. Is there a finish out there that will leave the wood looking lighter for longer?

I normally use Danish Oil, or similar, but I think that will darken it straight away. My next thought would be Sanding Sealer.

Any advice please?

Scaffold boards tend to be Spruce, it will darken however more yellow than Pine which tends to go more orangey.

 

[scockram]

Scaffold boards tend to be Spruce, it will darken however more yellow than Pine which tends to go more orangey.

Good to know, thanks. It's very knotty, which is a sign of Spruce I think. Overgrown Christmas Trees!