Rustins Quick Dry Varnish, Clear Matt, 250 ml -Fast-Drying Water-Based Wood Varnish; Durable Non-Yellowing Finish in Gloss, Satin or Matt for Indoor Use

Very thin to paint on which I like alot. Easy to use. Easy to clean brushes afterwards. Does a very good job on painted metal. Nice matt finish. Perfick! 👌

the lid was ever so slightly ajar when it arrived, no spring clips to hold the lid on in transit not a lot of leakage so didnt return, i didnt need too much anyway so no biggie. great varnish though and not to odourous. very quick drying within about 10 mins for a rubdown and second coat

We bought a high end desk and were a tad surprised that it hadn’t been coated with anything. Wanted a matt finish so opted to buy this, partly due to knowing the brand and that it offered prime delivery. The tin opens like a standard paint tin would. The varnish applies white so you can see where you have been - such a great feature! When it’s dry it turns clear and is touch dry within approx 35 mins if you put a medium coat on. You can apply a further coat after the first one has dried and it applies the same, first white then turns clear as it dries. Managed to coat the desk and still have enough left for any future projects - really nice varnish overall, it has given a smooth finish too, which is exactly what I was after.

I wanted a finish for an elm board that wouldn't darken the grain. I thought Osmo would be good but it made the close-grained areas very dark, more like mahogany. Dulux 'diamond hard' was OK for colour but left a surface that didn't sand well. After reading the reviews for this Rustins product I bought it and did some tests. I have an innate suspicion of water-based varnishes as not being proper varnish, just a patsy to EU directives where a good product has to be replaced with a not so good one. But the reviews were right. When first applied to bare wood the wood does darken, but then lightens over the next 30 minutes almost back to how it started. The tin says 'quick drying' and as others have noted, it's really a bit too quick, as it starts going tacky in about a minute. So work fast. Being water based the first coat brings the grain up, so fine sanding is needed. This can be done after two hours. The surface sands easily ether by hand or with an orbital sander. After the second coat the wood went darker as before, but then didn't lighten so much as it dried. However the elm is now a pleasant medium golden-brown colour. I think two coats will be enough, just in case it gets darker with every coat, then a very light sanding and finish with wax polish for a nice lustre. So far no problems with getting the tin lid off and on again. I suspect this is because people leave it off too long and residual varnish dries on the bearing surfaces.

In my images the shots with the sun on the bureau is before and the video and other shot is after. The finish before was ultra matt but now I would say it is a satin finish. At night it looks matt and during the day and in bright light it has a sheen to it. I don't mind the finish as this is going to be a high traffic piece so it needs the protection. The application was super easy and simple, I used a foam roller as I tested a synthetic brush on the back like the tin suggests and it left strokes. The foam roller application was super smooth. It dried in around 10 minutes, but it is a warm day and painted it outside. If you're looking for a matt finish this I don't think is the product for you, but in-between matt and satin, this is perfect. You don't need a lot of product, I used half a tin but that's because I did two full coats. I would use this again, but for a more matt look I will trying something else.

Good value and quality

This varnish is super easy to work with. Actually used to varnish "in" some vinyl stickers (numbers one to 100 with gridlines) so that youngsters (4 and 5 years old) in a class room environment could not so easily peel things off. This will definitely help - however it does not seem like a rock solid varnish which might have been a better choice for this particular application. That said - it goes on well, coats evenly pretty easily and the end product is pretty good. Washing brushes - simples - under the tap.

Seen some people saying they don’t know where they went wrong etc. with all these varnish matte/satin/gloss you have to lightly sand in between coats and don’t don’t don’t go over the same bit twice that’s how u get white bits and mix till your hearts content before using also use a sponge brush leaves best finish :) here I’ve used matte one on fireplace and satin one on drawers and gloss one on cupboard . Lightly sanding between coats. I use a heat resistant paint underneath it leaves an opaque flat finish whilst not disturbing the wood grain underneath. Rustins heat resistant paint. Kitchen cupboards radiator drawers fireplace it will never chip and looks fab works on anything with virtually zero smell dries flat always never bunches or streaks either. Those small drawers I did 8 years ago with this varnish on top (satin one) and still like new other pics I’ve just done recently. I never change the items I use because they function fantastically together! I always give “real”detailed reviews because I always need them too! and I get frustrated when I cannot see something I like or want how it uses or works before I buy so I do the same for others. Because I know what it’s like.