Best Finish for an Office Desk in a semi-punishing environment?

[Hugaluga]

I'm building an office desk with a hevea (rubberwood) butcher block top for my kids. They are young kids so I expect plenty of scratches, crayons, and carelessness. I still want it to look good and match our decor so I'm using a walnut stain on it (actual walnut wood is expensive in my region and hevea was cheap).

What kind of finish you would recommend for a good mix of durability and aesthetics? I was going to go with an oil-based Polyurethane, but I'm hearing that hard wax oils or ceramic coatings might be better fit. Unfortunately I know very little about them.

[JohnG]

I honestly think a lot of people way overthink this. I have 3 young kids and I’ve been amazed by how durable several finishes are. The 3 that I use are shellac, General Finish’s Arm-R-Seal, and Osmo PolyX. I think most modern finishes will hold up well. 

I used ARS on the desk I made, which was a full-time use desk for 3 years and is now a part-time use desk, and the kids use it very frequently for writing, coloring, and playing. Pen, crayon, and marker have all wiped off relatively easily. Under close inspection there are plenty of scratches, but from a typical use distance and from across the room it still looks great.

I have made a couple step stools for the kids, one is ARS and one is PolyX. Both stools have had 4+ years of heavy usage, toys dropped on them or smashed into them, grimy shoes, food, water, pee, everything. Both still look good. 

I’ve made several toys for the kids and other small items finished with Shellac. Wooden mallets, wands, doll house furniture, shelves/boxes, and they all look good still.

A few years ago I made a simple wooden coaster and finished half of it with ARS and half with PolyX to see how they compared. It’s been used daily with hot and cold drinks, been spilled on, used as a toy, written on, food spills, etc. It’s still in decent shape, but certainly worse off than the other things listed above. The PolyX side is looking a bit faded than the ARS, but both still look surprisingly good. 

 

In short, I’d pick a finish that you like or have good results with and just go with it. 

[Coop]

Someone sold me on Arm-R-Seal many years back. That and shellac are my go to finishes. 

[pkinneb]

ARS on mine with no issues after 15 years

[curlyoak]

I like the General brand. I feel that the high gloss is tougher than the semi gloss which is stronger than the satin finish. For kids I'd go with Armor seal high gloss. And good for the adults that like low maintenance and a longer lasting finish.

[wtnhighlander]

I'll add one more brand of oil-based poly to the mix. I have use Arm-R-Seal, no argument against it, but no local stores carry it. Minwax 'Tung Oil Finish' is a wipe-on poly/oil blend that gives me results comparable to Arm-R-Seal, but is easier to find in my area.

[Ronn W]

I have done 2 kitchen tables and 4 desks with ARS.  All are holding up well.

[legenddc]

Been using my desk daily since Covid. It's walnut ply with Arm-R-Seal and I see limited wear. The walnut top with Arm-R-Seal right by our front door has a few scratches after years of keys, cups, tools, etc. being tossed on it over the last 5+ years. Not enough that anyone besides me notices. My wife isn't very gentle with it. I've been quite pleased with how it's holding up.

[curlyoak]

Ronn and legenddc, Is your finish high gloss, semi gloss or satin?

 

Thanks

[legenddc]

Semi gloss or satin. I know I have both but can't remember which I ended up using after testing it.

My coffee table is Arm R Seal and pretty high use and has been holding up pretty well since February (I think). I know it has one scratch on it and some dings on the legs. I have a 6 and 8 year old who color, write, build Legos, etc. on it. We rest our feet on it, put drinks on it, you name it.

[Hugaluga]

Thank you all so much for your detailed and thoughtful responses. This is a really cool community!

Big shoutout to JohnG for sharing pictures of his experiment. Very enlightening to see the real-world results over time!

It sounds like I have some good options. I'm going to see what is available in my area.

[Chestnut]

1 minute ago, Hugaluga said:

It sounds like I have some good options. I'm going to see what is available in my area.

I've used General Finishes Arm R Seal (ARS) as well as Minwax Wipe On Poly. Wipe on poly is 95% as good but can be easier to find and sometimes is cheaper. If you can't find ARS give Minwax wipe on poly a shot.

[Ronn W]

On 10/5/2023 at 11:05 AM, curlyoak said:

Ronn and legenddc, Is your finish high gloss, semi gloss or satin?

I will often seal with shellac before applying ARS.  I usually do 1  or 2 coats of gloss then Satin as final coat.  Application with foam brush.

[roughsawn]

On 10/6/2023 at 10:03 AM, Ronn W said:

I will often seal with shellac before applying ARS.  I usually do 1  or 2 coats of gloss then Satin as final coat.  Application with foam brush.

Ronn, after you seal with shellac, do you do a light sand...or just go to applying the ARS on top of it?

[treeslayer]

My process is the same as @Ronn W, @Coop and probably many others, I use a scotch pad or 220 paper after the shellac and the same for subsequent coats of ARS, as a side note I just ordered some supplies from Woodcraft and ARS was $37.00 a quart, that stuff is getting expensive 

[Ronn W]

LIght sand with 400 grit - just enough to smooth the surface.  I pour some ARS on the surface and spread it around to cover the entire surface paying close attention to the edges.  Spreading over the entire surface eliminates any dry lines and give you time to tip off the surface lightly with the foam brush.   I use full length strokes from left to right,  daubing the excess off the sponge brush into an absorbent paper towel after each stroke.  Over lap the strokes.  Use sponge brush to clean up any over flow at the edges.  Only takes a few minutes to do an exective sized desk.  And with 400 between coats. Usually 2 coats does the trick - depends on how much grain texture you want.