Rustins Quick Dry Outdoor Clear Varnish 1L Satin

This review is being written 6 months after building a table for our garden. I researched the various finishes available suitable for a project of this kind. I really didn't want to wait for days in between coats, and this finish allows you to recoat pretty quickly. I used bog-standard construction lumber from a timber yard that had spent time drying in my wood shed. Once sanded, this timber came up in a rather beautiful light beige. The finish had the effect of slight yellowing as it dried, especially after three coats, but I like the effect and will be using it again. Applying it was a breeze. After the first coat dried, the finish is not so impressive, but get the second coat on and you are getting somewhere. A third coat was all that I felt was needed to stand up to the British weather. The finish is beautiful and smooth and very hard. The incredibly wet and windy Christmas has had no impact on this at all, and the table just sits there with water beading on it, not warping in any way. As a fairly inexperienced woodworker, I was confident in the application, the drying time and delighted with the ultimate finish. I can't wait to start my spring projects for which I will definitely purchase more of this excellent finish.

Good solid product. Water resistant and no odours. Easy to apply and good valued for money. Dries quickly and looks fantastic as a finish.

Good but small tin

I was a bit apprehensive after reading some reviews but, to coin a phrase, I did exactly what it said in the tin, and everything was fine. The key point is, stir it. Stir it well. Then stir it some more. When you think you've stirred it enough, stir it a bit longer for luck. DON'T SHAKE IT. That won't help to distribute the sediment throughout the viscous liquid. It's easy to apply (I used a 50mm brush) but it does start to dry VERY quickly (like... minutes) so watch out for runs and deal with them straight away. I was using it outdoors but there was no noticeable smell. It has a white milky appearance in the tin and slightly after application but it quickly becomes completely transparent. The product came wrapped in some sort of shrink-wrap cling-filmy stuff, so little chance of the lid coming off in transit. Brush was easy to clean with tap water if you do it straight away. You'd have to mess about with paint thinners if you let it dry.

Exactly as stated on the tin, very quick drying and covers well.

Brilliant product. Covers really well, easy to apply and this one tin did 2 x 2 seater garden benches. The benches now look like new. Added bonus is brush is cleaned with water.

Quite different to the indoor varnish which I've bought before and is excellent. This is like coloured water and difficult to apply. Drips everywhere and runs. Remains to be seen how it stands up to the elements. But final result looks OK. Took four coats. Update after the winter. Now looks terrible. Milky spots everywhere. The more it rains the worse it gets. This is not outdoor varnish. It doesn't stand up to the elements.

First time of using this make of water based clear varnish. Opening the tin is a surprise as the contents appear white! Expecting clear. It was easy to apply and the white appearance soon disappeared to leave a clear finish. It made it easier to see where you had already painted so avoiding too much overlap. It covered a far greater area than expected so proved to be economic. Drying time was very short and it was touch dry in 10 to 15 minutes (it was a warm sunny day..) Obviously brush cleaning easy with a little detergent and water. My only criticism, and as it was garden gates, not really a great concern was that finish was not a brilliantly shiny gloss.