Whenever you stain raw wood, it’s important to varnish or seal it before use. Otherwise, the stain could absorb oils and grime from use, and you might ruin that stained surface. Let’s look at the proper way to varnish a stained surface. Here are your steps.
1. Apply in a moderate climate.
When you stain or varnish, make sure you have an even climate. Make sure you are not applying in a spot with part shade and part sun. Otherwise, it will dry unevenly, and you don’t want that.
Also, it’s important if it’s really warm outside, not to apply in direct sunlight. Otherwise, your varnish (or stain) will dry too quickly. You want to apply in temperature that is moderate so that it doesn’t heat up too fast and dry uneven. Go for all shaded or full sun in the evening or cool temperature.
2. Load brush with a conservative amount of varnish.
Load up your brush with a conservative amount of varnish. Dip it a couple times and strain it out. Repeat. Now we’re ready to apply.
3. Apply on a flat surface first.
Just like with applying stain, start with a large flat surface. We’re varnishing a newel rod, so we will start on the flat surfaces near the top and bottom. Spread it until the brush is almost empty.
Make sure you go with the grain of the wood if at all possible. So get all the varnish out of the brush with broad strokes on a flat surface before moving on.
4. Work hard-to-get areas before reloading.
After getting most of the varnish out of the brush, work in the hard-to-get areas. The reason we do this last is because varnish runs very easily.
5. Repeat the process until the whole surface is covered.
Reload your brush again and hit a broad, flat surface again to work out the majority of your varnish in the brush. Then hit those nooks and crannies again until your item is covered.
It’s difficult to go with the grain when you’re working in the little grooves. So you obviously need to work it in however you can and then feather it out in broad strokes so it doesn’t have any runs or any varnish going against the grains.
6. Keep an eye out for runs.
When you roll your wood over, you can sometimes see where you’ve put a little too much varnish, and it built up. This is not good. Keep an eye out for that – especially on the underside.
When you rotate a newel post over to get at the bottom after having applied varnish to the three other surfaces, keep an eye out for running varnish. Any excess will have run over to the bottom side, and you want to fix this before it dries.
7. Fix any runs you find.
Sometimes you miss a run, and your varnish runs. So load up your brush just a little and get the majority out of it on a flat surface. Come over to where your run is and level it out. You don’t want any runs. Get a nice even coat. Get in there and work it out, back and forth until it’s even and consistent.
8. Do a final sweep.
Go over the whole piece of wood you are varnishing and make sure you leave no surface unsealed. Look for any blemishes or uneven spots. Feather everything the way it’s supposed to be.
Go back and look for brush hairs or any foreign objects in your varnish. Make sure it comes out, and then feather over to put the grain back in the varnish.
9. Sand it smooth.
After your first coat has thoroughly dried, come back and repeat the above steps as many times as needed until you get the sheen you’re going for.
Then come back with a sandpaper that is at least 1500-grit. Dip it in water and sand down all surface area. Don’t worry about scratching it. You’re not going to. Just make sure the sandpaper is dipped in water and keep a wet edge. What you will do is turn a course varnish into something that feels as smooth as glass.
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