On Tue, 06 Mar 2007 09:02:19 -0600, KLC Lewis wrote:

Charlie, either your experience with varnish is with a horrible
formulation, or you just don't have any. Quality varnish, such as
"Flagship," has very high UV protection. Properly applied to properly
prepared wood, it will protect extremely well. Nor does it have to be
"scraped and sanded off every time you want to refresh things." Scuff
the surface, clean, apply varnish topcoat, Bob's your uncle. If scuffing
and cleaning the old varnish is too much for you, combine some Penetrol
with the varnish and you don't even have to do that.

Yes, varnish requires maintenance. But so does Cetol, for that matter.
There is no substance known to man which can be applied to wood which
will then forever protect and keep it shiny and pretty. Everything wears
out over time.

As an aside, UV protection does not require opacity, nor does opacity
guarantee UV protection.

I had a conversation about this with a chemical engineer from a paint
company.

Varnish fails because UV damages the wood underneath, destroying the bond.

The more transparent the UV protection, the higher the cost, which is why
cheap varnish fails quickly. Cheap varnish has either less effective
additives or less of the good ones. Enough of the good ones is expensive.

Classic Cetol uses iron oxide for UV protection, which explains the orange
color. I imagine it has other additives too though, and the "Light"
version less of the iron oxide and more of the transparent stuff.

After using both Cetol Light and Deks Olje side by side for two seasons,
we've switched all the exterior brightwork to Cetol Light. I was
quite surprised how well the Cetol held up, especially on the areas that
weren't covered over the winter. After a two year trial, it was clear
which was less work -- Cetol.

Matt O.