Expert: Eileen Cronk - 4/17/2008

Question
Hello from Alaska!

I just stripped layers and layers of white paint from an old chair.  To say that it was a lot of work is the understatement of the year!

Anyway, underneath it all, I found a nice maple chair.  I like the look of Danish oil, but we do plan to use this as a kitchen chair and we do have young children.  So that makes me think I should use a polyurethane finish.  

My question is, can I use both?  Can I use a rubbing oil with a light tint to get the look and then put a hard polyurethane coat over the top to get the protection?

Sincerely,
Erik

Answer
Hello Alaska from Ontario.
Nice to hear from you.
Stripping chairs of paint is the worse job ever.
And stripping poly from chairs is the next worse LOL.
Eric trust me on this..use the oil.
Been where you are.
Especially with kids.
Heres my theory..tried and true.
Poly will chip and look like crap in a few years especially with kids.
Oil finishes don't do this and the beauty of an oil finish is you simply wipe on a fresh coat whenever needed and no need for any surface prep just a good wash with a degreaser and wipe on the oil with a rag.
But your question was "can I use both?".
In theory, they are both oil based products so the answer is likely yes but I discourage this ...as you guessed LOL.
Great question
Regards
Eileen