What kind of finish is best for use on White Birch wood?

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Q: I am doing a project in class, and I need to know what kind of finish is best for use on White Birch wood. I can’t seem to find it anywhere else on the Internet, so I figured I would ask you.

A: What is the ‘best’ finish is not easy to answer, and is probably as much subjective as objective. It depends what you are trying to achieve. If you have a need to keep the colour as light as possible, you would want to use a non yellowing finish such as a water borne coating. If you prefer the deeper richer tones of an oil modified, then a good quality solvent based finish is the choice. If you are looking for something that has a more natural, old fashioned type of look, perhaps a penetrating tung oil product such as Waterlox is the product to choose. In the polyurethane department, I use Poloplaz Primero and 202. I have also used Waterlox on a number of floors, all of which worked out quite well.

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