What (if any) finish for a pine towel rail?

[sploo]

I'm making a towel rail similar to this https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bathroom-Holde ... XAY7ZCX4MH but from pine because it's all I could get my hands on at the moment.

I've previously made a pine "fence" that hooked around the lower part of a bathroom radiator (to stop our toddler getting burned) and that's held up OK with no finish. However, this rail will take damp towels, and won't be directly in front of a radiator so I'm wondering if it should be coated (possibly to prevent mould).

I could put a couple of coats of floor varnish on it, which is pretty good, but I assume might come under "immersion" in terms of prolonged contact with a damp surface.

Is there a better finish that would hold up to this application, or should I just leave it bare?

 

[custard]

This came up in another thread discussing clothes horses (I know, how sad are we) and I think someone posted a page from an old woodworking manual showing a clothes horse plan. From memory they recommended either no finish or "white enamel paint".

At the risk of sounding even sadder I then spent some time musing on how I'd finish a clothes horse, and decided I'd paint the legs white up to a few inches below the bottom rail and then leave the rest unfinished.

 

[sploo]

Thanks Custard. I'm flipping between no finish and floor varnish, but lack of time for "delivery" means the decision of no finish will likely end up the default.

 

[ED65]

I'd be inclined to apply at least a little finish to a towel rail since towels can be wetter than what's typically draped over a clothes horse. And because it's modern pine you're using presumably.

As for your tight "delivery schedule" if you dilute the varnish and wipe on/wipe off you should reliably get a 12hr drying time, sometimes as little as six hours depending on the varnish.

If you decide not to finish you should raise the grain to prevent snags. Apologies if this is teaching egg sucking but wet the wood, let it dry and sand off only the raised grain with medium or fine paper. Do this at least twice.

 

[sploo]

I'd be inclined to apply at least a little finish to a towel rail since towels can be wetter than what's typically draped over a clothes horse. And because it's modern pine you're using presumably.

As for your tight "delivery schedule" if you dilute the varnish and wipe on/wipe off you should reliably get a 12hr drying time, sometimes as little as six hours depending on the varnish.

If you decide not to finish you should raise the grain to prevent snags. Apologies if this is teaching egg sucking but wet the wood, let it dry and sand off only the raised grain with medium or fine paper. Do this at least twice.

On a decent weather day I find the floor varnish dries (sufficiently for a second coat) in probably an hour. Certainly I've never had any problems with applying multiple coats quickly.

Raised grain is a good point - I do the relevant sanding when varnishing, though TBH I don't recall the radiator fence/cover having too much in the way of problems. Maybe I'll slap a couple of thin coats on it if I get time - though I can always give it a quick skim with a hand plane and coat it if I don't have time and it ends up having problems.

 

[Austinisgreat]

I maybe too late here - wouldn't be the first time!

Osmo worktop oil. (Do they call it Top Oil?) Waterproof - to a point, available from gloss to matte finish.

Durable, hardwearing, and won't make your towels smell horrid.

My 2d worth,

Cheers

Andrew

 

[John Brown]

+1 for Osmo, but it's fairly expensive, unless you already have a tin, or have some other use for it.

 

[sploo]

Thanks. Never used Osmo, but I hear good things.

One day I'll get some, but for this I'll probably just stick with the varnish and see what happens. It's a temporary (<1 year) item, so it's only got to last that long.