Pine table restoration

[pleasingone]

Hi,

I picked up a solid nest of three pine tables in a charity shop for a bargain £20. Feeling inspired to have a go at restoring them, this is my first time.
I have sanded one of them down. The legs were more challenging and I have not been able to get all the varnish off.
Been reading various conflicting reports online about the best product to use in them in their raw state. I like the natural look wax will give but understand that this isn't very durable, but I not sure about oil or varnish. Some reports also say to resand in between applications.
Would also consider painting in a nice farrow & ball colour but understand this won't be very durable and may stain?

Also posted in home decorating but then noticed this category!

Any advise great fully received.
Thanks

Could/would you consider chalk painting them and then a pale wax over the paint once dry?
No need to strip them before chalk painting and the pale/clear wax will offer some durability.
I have a friend who has just started refurbing old pieces using this technique and some of his look gorgeous.

Hi, I bought a cheap-ish IKEA dining table on ebay and after extensive research used this stuff to coat it in

www.frenchpolishes.com/cgi-bin/sh000001.pl?REFPAGE=http%3a%2f%2fwww%2efrenchpolishes%2ecom%2fshop%2ehtml&WD=aquacoat&PN=Floor_Coatings%2ehtml%23a4#a4

It is a floor finish, but in the satin version it hardly changes the colour of the wood and is incredibly hard wearing. My table, after 5 years use and daily wiping looks as good as new still. It is also really easy to apply. If the link fails try googling Aquacoat SP.

Thank you both for the replies. I've not heard of chalk paint - my first time doing anything like this! I'll research.
Thanks for the tip about aquaseal.

Annoyingly raining today so preventing me from getting outside & on with my project!

You could use a chalk paint with a top coat of wax, or an eggshell paint. Eggshell is hardwearing and doesn't need a top coat. I've painted quite a few things with F&B eggshell (furniture, panelling and our front door), it's easy to use and I don't always bother with an undercoat.

Chalk paint will cover pretty much anything so no need for an undercoat but you would then definitely need to give it a coating of wax or a clear mat varnish type topcoat. Rustoleum chalk paint is good and cheaper than Annie Sloan, they also do a sealant which goes on easily.

I've also used just normal matt emulsion (usually left over F&B tester pots) then waxed or put a sealant on.

If you don't want to paint it you could just use a wax e.g. Fiddes, or an oil, I like Osmo, or you could just leave the tables as they are. I sanded our pine dining table back as it looked yellow from years of waxing and I now just give it a scrub if gets any marks (which it does, a lot!).

Just to add if you do oil or wax the tables they might end up looking as dark as they did before you sanded them. You can get oils with a sort of whitewashed finish if you want to avoid a yellow look.

DH has done loads of pine furniture restoration using chalk paint. With tables the IMO the most effective and durable way is to paint the legs with chalk paint and leave the table top natural and wax it. (Waxing the chalk paint makes it more durable but gives a darker finish than leaving it). This effect is one used by all the stores, look at M&S painted furniture, for example.