Protecting A Pine Table.

[Baby_Sham]

I have a large pine coffee table that I've sanded down today, to remove any marks or coffee cup stains.
It looks lovely now, but I'm afraid to put anything on it.

What would be the best thing I could rub into the wood to protect it?
I do not want to use any kind of sticky, shiny varnish.

Thanks.

[tonyav]

I would use a wax if I were you, you can get different colours.

[daffy654]

You want a wood stain rather than a varnish, most of them are water resistant.

[tonyav]

Should have added a link ( doh )
This type of stuff.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_trksid=p2050601.m570.l1313.TR1.TRC0.A0.Xwood+wax&_nkw=wood+wax&_sacat=0&_from=R40

[Baby_Sham]

Thanks Tony. What about Bee's Wax? Is that ok?

[kazza55]

The best thing to protect it is varnish. There are some really good varnishes out there now. You can get matt or satin varnish if you don't want your table to have a shiny finish.
You could use a wax, but you will have to be careful when putting cups of tea, coffee on the table, as it won't protect as well as varnish.

[tonyav]

Yeah, that should be ok.

[Baby_Sham]

Sorry, I didn't see the link :)

Thanks Daffy but I want something that's not going to change the colour really, which I suspect a wood stain would.

[Baby_Sham]

Definitely don't want to use varnish, I really hate the stuff.

Thanks very much Tony. Question is now answered :-)

[EcclesCake]

I'd go for Danish oil. Every day for a week, every week for a month, every month for a year, once a year every year. A fantastic, robust finish....and worth it.

[jomifl]

I would go along with Kazza's comments and would use a water based acrylic matt varnish. They dry in about an hour so you can put on a minimum of 5 coats quite quickly to get a deep looking finish. They are extremely resistant to abrasion, if they are good enough for floors then they are good enough for a coffee table.