Clearest varnish?

[Scarron]

Slightly non boaty I know but;-

I am in the process of building an extension and am keenly awaiting the arrival of the windows and french doors, We have ordered them from Canada and they are made of clear douglas fir with painted aluminium cladding on the outside [V. XP, hopefully V. nice]. The timber comes unfinished from the factory and I want to finish them in a clear satin varnish - question is which one?

Has anyone any recommendations? I really want to keep the wood as light and natural as possible but still protect it well from U.V. and water/dirt stains [it is a kitchen] and I only want to do it once if possible so I am thinking a marine varnish should fit the bill perhaps.

Should I be using a two pack with a 'satin' additive? I presume I would need to keep the number of coats to a minimum to avoid darkening the finished colour?

Any thoughts from seasoned varnishers?

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[Talbot]

I have been very happy with the finish of the SP Ultravar 2000 varnish (2 pack)

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[tillergirl]

By and large I've found the two packs neutral ie no colour. The SP one quoted above is definitely clear as is Blakes two pot polyvarnish. I've used the Blakes for a number of years and it is tough but the timber has tended to lighten underneath.

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[Evadne]

The floor varnish (one pot but harder than the normal stuff) is as clear as I've seen. Can't remember the name, might be "diamond"" or "Crystal" or soomething like that. I'll look it up when I go home tonight. At an evening class the other week, the painting teacher said he uses ordinary interior "Ronseal" from B&Q on his paintings, 'cos its cheap, so that must be pretty neutral as well. Not necessarily durable though.

My only thought is that the darkening bits in varnish are usually the UV protection, so will a light wood with a UV-transparent varnish change colour nearly as quickly as if it hadn't been varnished?

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