Internal Varnish

Finesse

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14 Oct 2002
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A short time ago in one of the magazines, someone suggested a mixture for cleaning and reviving internal varnish. It was a mixture of linseed oil (can't remember if it was boiled) turpentine and white spirit. Apart from making the boat smell like a cricket bat, it worked very well. Sadly, I can't remember the exact proportions. Anybody help?
 
Talk of the devil, and all that. I'm just in the process of re-doing the internal varnish, but I have come down in favour of a good sanding and two new coats.

The downside is that dry sanding in the cabin is not a lot of fun - definitely dust mask required and athsmatic spouse and offspring nowhere near (until we get to applying the varnish - that is a spousal task!
 
My little black book says 50% linseed oil, 25% turpentine and 25% meths. It doesn't say whether it was boiled linseed oil. I mixed this up once and it didn't work for me at all. Certainly cleaned it but the meths was the overpowering aroma. Which makes me reflect on the rather sobering thought that all the central London meths drinkers switched to Carlsberg Special Brew because presumably it was stronger and more freely available!
 
Linseed oil and meths, applied very gently with fine wire wool, is the standard way of cleaning up old furniture that has unsightly dark dirt patches that have been over-poilished. The meths is the solvent, the oil tries to replace some of the natural sheen inevitably taken away too in the process.
It ultimately depends whether you want a hard shiny yacht-varnish look, or a more natural oiled wood look.
 
Thanks Gentlemen. Some good advice. Currently revarnishing most of the outside of the boat (the joys of timber boat ownership) so looking for a quick fix
 
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