Which varnish?

[jaycat]

Hi,

a friend of mine has aquired a secondhand 5' aquarium which has no hood. They have made a hood, and have already treated it with beeswax, now they want to know what type of varnish to use? On a search I see it has to be polyurethane, but is there anything else they need to know?

Many thanks,

 

[hinch]

marine varnish
most acrylic varnishes
plasticote etc

 

[foxfish]

I dont think there is a varnish suitable for painting over bees wax!!
You would need to remove the wax first by sanding & treating with solvents -then hope for the best!
Maybe adding many more coats of wax & then buffing would work for you?

 

[jaycat]

Thanks for your replies.

O dear re the beeswax! I will see my friend this morning and tell her, she just told me yesterday what she had done, so I had no time to ask for advice for her first

I will pass on all your advice, good and not so good (for her!)

 

[foxfish]

You might be able to find some wax based hard finishes in a suitable outlet, B&Q maybe?
There is a product called Patina, I think that might be wax based or maybe somthing like tongue oil might adhere to wax?

 

[jaycat]

Thank you Foxfish, I passed your thoughts on to my friend who has said she will just recoat with many layers of beeswax. However I will text your thoughts to her, but she seems ok about doing many coats! She already had trouble with the stand bowing, and asked, told her to check floor was level etc.

Kind of finding the solution after the horse has bolted though, wish she'd have asked me BEFORE she had done it, (would have given me time to do some research for her) still done now!