Right type of varnish for kitchen table?

Is there a right type of varnish for a kitchen table? Bearing in mind that it will have to withstand crayons/ ink/paint and general childrens wear and tear? It is new- never previously stained, waxed or varnished. Mr.V just made it from scratch. Previous kitchen table was damaged by yours truly when I decided that I needed to used meths to remove a sticker ( the for sale sticker) and it took the varnish off and then I waxed it ( which was a horror to clean). So want to do it right from the beginning. Is there any hard wearing, non toxic type varnish?

Yacht varnish should be perfect to resist most of the little peoples misuse. Expensive tho.

Thanks for that ACA. I googled yacht varnish and have a couple of questions:

Ronseal have one but its only available in clear- but I want to stain the wood a deeper colour than its natural state- so do I stain it first in some way and then use the yacht varnish over that?

There seems to be some mention that it is suitable for exterior only- that it might contain fungicide or pesticide that is not suitable for contact with food?

I would recommend staining it first (the nicest stains to use are made by Liberon. They are acrylic based and they are very easy to apply). Then, if you want to varnich, use either Yacht varnish or a high quality floor varnish on top (Dulux diamon glaze is very good and again acrylic based so won't interact with the stain.

An alternative is to use a good few coats of Liberon finishing oil. This is safe to use on tables, dries to a hard finish and can easily be re-applied once a year. In my mind, this is a better finish for a table as you can just apply more oil on top when it begins to looks a bit sorry. You cannot do that with varnish unless you sand it all back.

No shares in Liberon, BTW, I just like their products

cheers,
Diziet

Thanks for that Diziet, that sounds ideal. Will google Liberon.

I wouldnt consider varnish for a well used and abused table. Danish oil applied at least twice a year. A stain first would be in order as well. the danish oil is applied by cloth two coats about 24 hours apart, and a light wirewooling before the next application. resists water and hot cups and if badly abused can be well rubbed and reapplied.

In a previous incarnation I used it on timber kitchen work tops( when they where different and novel), and was called back by the owner 6 monthly for years to reapply , even years after getting out of the trade, she would only allow me to do it!( hmm maybe I was missing a hint?)

Any polyurethane varnish will be hard wearing and long lasting. But as mentioned above any varnish sits on the surface where it can be scratched whereas the oils penetrate the surface and don't really exist as a surface layer, hence less scratchability but they need to be renewed yearly or so.

Manufacturers usually use a two part acid catylsed celloluse or two part polyurethane varnish, these would be the best varnishes as they 'cure' by chemical hardening as well as solvent evaporation but this isn't an option for you at home...

So your options would be the yatch or floor varnish, polyurethane varnish or else high quality oils like Liberon finishing oils. An oil like Danish oil will darken the table and more coats will darken it further, a nice natural colour similar to aged wood, not sure about Liberon finishing oil but I'd expect it to darken slightly at least.

Cheers
Joe

Thanks to Kerak and Joe- lots of information there which I will duly pass on to Mr.Vanilla.

I would also recommend a dainish oil but it does need reapplying every 6 months or so, but as joe says, it doesn't sit on the surface, so you don't get scratches like you would with a coat of varnish.

If you're going to use a danish oil make sure all previous finishes are completley removed.A floor finish will wear far better than yacth varnish which resists water and sunlight well but doesn't stand up as well to abrasion.

I think you've got plenty of good advice there from other posters, I would tend to go for Danish Oil or Tung Oil as a finishing treatment on a table top. In fact I'm restoring an oak gate leg table at the moment and I will be using a Rustins Light Oak (solvent based) wood stain to bring up the colour, followed by 3 or 4 coats of Danish Oil, applied by cloth "rubber" and worked well into the grain. I will use "plumber's greens" (green abrasive cloths, like scourer pad) between coats and fine (000) wire wool to de-nib. Polyurethane and acrylic varnishes (and commercial lacquers) are hardwearing but when they wear or chip the natural wood beneath is exposed it's not really practicable to be touching up these areas of damage as and when they occur. The beauty of Danish Oil is ease of application, some level of penetration into the grain and the beautiful matt sheen the oil gives to wood- all in all the perfect choice to enhance the natural beauty of the wood. Unless you cover your table tob with a protecting mat of some kind you'll have to accept wear and tear as inevitable. In my view this adds character to the wood surface and if the Danish oil is reapplied once a year the surface should age very well.

Thanks again to qwerty ( easy to type), grimreaper and Carpenter for taking the time to reply and the good advice- much appreciated.

As a post script you could buy a small tin of the Danish oil (about €5?) and try it on a test patch under the table to see if you like the look of it, my guess is you will!

Though yacht varnish is clear, it does, in time, impart a slight yellow colour to lightly-coloured timber. I've used it to protect wooden wainscoting in our hallway and it was great, i.e. ultra hard-wearing, plus the slight yellow tinge on the white panels. Your question, though, about its suitability for food contact, is an interesting one.....

Thanks again Carpenter and Omega. Just one query, my toddler likes to 'draw' on the kitchen table- and sadly cannot as yet keep between the lines- if for example she gets hold of a biro, as she has been known to do, and she marks the table, would varnish withstand better?

My 2 year old loves drawing and painting at the kitchen table also so I would suggest the following: I got some cheap vinyl plastic sheeting (about 1.5mm thick and used to cover desktops and is readily available from floor covering suppliers) and cut an "art mat" from it. This is simply rolled out on the table when "Picasso" is at work and is easily wiped down on completion. It's also great when using the table for modelling clay, "baking" and even adult hobbies or repairs (great when soldering!). The soft, resilient surface protects the timber from brusing or dents if using tools etc. I used the remainder of the material I got to cut out a liner for the car boot- great for muddy buggies or boots and saves the original carpet. I'd say a reasonably sized off-cut should cost no more than a tenner.

Great suggestion, thanks again Carpenter.