No varnish, what else ?

Hi I make ukuleles but due to personal/health reasons, I can't use chemicals.
would you have an idea on how to protect the wood ? Any kind of oil ?

Hi Pepilune,

It is difficult to know what you would regard as chemical. I've tried a number of different methods to finish my ukes. I first tried brushed varnish, but hated the process and the result. I've had good results with clear lacquer from an aerosol spray can, and also Tru Oil, which can be applied with a rag. The old fashioned type of wax furniture polish (made with bees wax) can give a nice finish, but would have to be renewed fairly frequently on something which is handled reqularly

French polishing might suit you requirements.

John Colter.

ps. I once tried a product which was intended for exterior woodwork. It was applied with a rag. It gave a good hard wearing finish, but the fumes were psychoactive. I found it caused me to feel nervous and panicky. I was very worried until I realised what was causing the problem.

Tru-Oil has petrochemical solvents in it, so if you have asthma/respiratory problems that might rule it out. But a small bottle is cheap (buy the smallest you can, it will finish two or more ukes and goes gummy once opened for a month or so).

French polishing, or more generically shellac, is as near "chemical" free as possible. Shellac is dissolved in alcohol (usually meths), and then wiped or padded on. The easy version, which I use, is to wipe on 6-12 thin coats with paper towels, then (once cured, say a week) level with wet sanding (1,000 grit or finer) and polish up with T-Cut (automotive paint cutting compound). The T-Cut has a little petrochemical content but you only use a teaspoonful or so. Metal polish would do instead, or Autosol (chrome cleaner).

Boiled linseed oil can be used - wipe on, leaving for a couple of minutes, wipe off, leave to cure for a few days, repeat. Three or four coats is probably enough. This takes months for the linseed smell to disappear and the oil to cure completely, and you get a dull shine which is fairly soft. But it's a pretty safe option for allergies.

Finally, just good wax, applied as directed on the tin, again you'll want s few coats. Polishes up to a nice sheen, but wears off fast so needs renewing every year or so. Very safe for allergies.

Pepilune said:

Hi I make ukuleles but due to personal/health reasons, I can't use chemicals.
would you have an idea on how to protect the wood ? Any kind of oil ?

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I can’t really add much to what John has already said but would support it and point you in the direction of Ken Timms. Ken is well known here and builds some great Martin copies which he finishes with shellac and true oil (I believe). As far as I can recall he has shared his methods here and does have many on-line videos illustrating his techniques. Good luck and welcome to UU.

It is worth noting that you can protect yourself against chemical finishes e.g. nitro cellulose, by using the appropriate ppe( masks, gloves etc.)

I did hear a long time ago that you can use Vaseline as a finish..Never tried it tho.

Timbuck said:

I did hear a long time ago that you can use Vaseline as a finish..Never tried it tho.

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You try it first Ken. Could work, but might make the uke a little... slippery?.... My idea: Take mineral oil and just rub it on the wood. Zero VOC. Let soak in for a day or two and then buff. It will soak in just like it does on fingerboards. You could also dye the oil with a tiny bit of ink or paint or... Well, you go first.

sequoia said:

You try it first Ken. Could work, but might make the uke a little... slippery?.... My idea: Take mineral oil and just rub it on the wood. Zero VOC. Let soak in for a day or two and then buff. It will soak in just like it does on fingerboards. You could also dye the oil with a tiny bit of ink or paint or... Well, you go first.

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It’s nice to see the banter and comradeship between your Luthiers. The OP could, of course, try out the suggestions so far on some scrap wood - no Ukes were hurt in the experiments.

I reckon candle wax would give a decent finish, but I've had good results with beeswax furniture polish (and it smells nice) so I won't be changing.

Does shellac also cause you problems? It's dissolved in alcohol. As long as you have good ventilation it shouldn't be as hazardous as some more modern finishes.

I am very sensitive to chemicals as I was overexposed to acetone working on a printing press as a young lad and chemical smells now give me migraines....

So I can say I avoid all chemicals as much as possible....which is hard to do in this world these days.

However, I have been successfully using shellac (french polish) to finish my instruments and love it. I do however use Everclear (grain alcohol) as the solvent, as the denatured alcohols do give me problems. Just grain alcohol mixed with shellac flakes and a couple dots of olive oil if/when needed. Other than that is all about time, technique and elbow grease.

BTW I love the smell of shellac....I love the look and I love the feel of it. If you are patient it really is not that hard to use.

You could also look into varnish like the violin makers use. Of course some have nasty additives but traditional varnish is completely natural....You just have to figure out what works for you as some of the oils and resins can be strong smelling and can cause some problems. So it gets down to what your particular issues are.

I would NOT consider Tru oil or "Boiled" Linseed Oil natural or chemical free....You can get flax oil and oxidize or boil it but the stuff sold in stores called "boiled" linseed oil has many additives and driers added and I cannot be around them. Again it is knowing your personal limits and concerns. Also be aware of the Tung oil scams as again some are not even Tung oil and may have additives...You have to look carefully and ask questions to be sure.

Not trying to judge those who choose to use other finishes....I just know what they do to me and cannot live with it.

Best of luck!

1- Straight Walnut oil.
2- Waterbased polycrylic (probably waaaaaaay to chemically for you).
3- FP
4- Get someone else to finish your stuff.

I have some pure tung oil.
After having sanded, should I apply the oil as it is ?

Pepilune said:

I have some pure tung oil.
After having sanded, should I apply the oil as it is ?

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Yes, sand out to 320 grit, clean up your sawdust and simply apply and let dry. Before I do a couple "raise the grain" applications with water for a really smooth finish (apply small amount of water with a damp rag, let dry an hour or two sand with 320 grit. Repeat). Apply additional coats with a 24 hour dry time as needed until desired finish is achieved. You can sand out between coats with super-fine steel wool.

Note that commercially available so called tung oils (Formby's, etc.) are real witches brews of aromatic solvents some of which are probably nasty. It is hard to tell what is in these formulations because the manufactures consider the recipe secret and proprietary. The only way to find out is to get ahold of an Material Data Safety Sheet. Good luck with that. Evan so-called "pure" tung oil has been boiled and "driers" have been added. See below from Wiki:

Since tung oil has become popular as an environmentally friendly wood finish, some products labelled as "tung oil" are actually blends containing other oils, varnishes, solvents, or chemical driers, and may even containing no tung oil at all[13] Products labeled "Danish oil" may be tung oil or they may be polymerized linseed oil. The product packaging will usually clearly state if it is pure tung oil.

Bottom line: I treat all chemical preparations with caution. Wear gloves and have good ventilation. A further caution: Rags soaked in "tung oil" are notorious for spontaneously combusting (bursting into flames) and burning down your house. When we used to use it in house construction for moldings and such, all rags went into a bucket filled with water. Burning down the clients house was considered a very, very bad thing and not good for business.

Wear a mask and gloves. Apply it outdoors. There aren't many days that are without breeze even if it's gentle. I doubt that a coat of something like Tru oil takes much more than 5 minutes to apply. You can even apply it with a soft brush.

I will also try Shellac.

The big thing about shellac is what you mix it with. I used to get terrible headaches handling meths but our government decided to take it out so now our meths is methyl alcohol free because too many people were dieing from it and now it just has bittering compounds and is 99% pure ethanol.
You want something like that.

In Europe the methyl content was usually pretty low - around 5%, most of it was ethanol. The formula (European wide) changed about 6 years ago. There's no methyl alcohol content now but there are a few other additives (butanol?) that I don't particularly like the smell of. I switched to Isopropyl alcohol just before the formula change and it works fine for French polishing or brushing it on. You need the strong stuff though, the one marked at 99% or thereabouts. It's water clear too.

I'm not sure where the OP is from, but here in America we can buy nearly pure ethanol at the liquor store under the brand name "Everclear". It is 95% ethanol and 5% water. Very expensive for what you get. I just use "stove fuel". It does not state what it is unfortunately but my nose tells me it is mostly denatured ethanol with some methanol. Works fine and is much cheaper than Everclear.

I'm in Canada and can’t find grain alcohol here but use a product called BioFlame (meant for indoor "fireplaces"). I’ve only just started making ukes but found that a favourite finish of mine works pretty well. I’m in an apartment, so like to stick to non toxic materials as much as possible - I lay on thin coats of shellac with a small piece of sponge wrapped with a piece of old T-shirt. Then I rub it with 0000 steel wool to even any ridges (sometimes a bit of fine paper if I've left a bad ridge) then I use a few thin coats of Tried and True linseed/beeswax finish. It leaves a low lustre but very rich looking finish. The process is far less fussy than it might sound. The Tried and True is a polymerized linseed oil, so it's very thick and a little goes a long way.