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After asking this forum what to use on some pretty red oak wood, someone mentioned hardening wax oils as a good option. I gave Odie's a try, mainly because these banisters can't be detached and Odie's doesn't smell as strong.
End result has been great. Application was easy. Buffed in the first cost, went to buff it out and it was totally dry, so I buffed a second coat in. Then 45 min later I buffed off the excess. Took about 3 hours total.
Water beads on the resulting finish, and really compliments the grain of the wood! Already planning to use Odie's on future projects.
Yeah -_- if any of the alternatives had been as low VOC as Odie's I probably would have used them instead... But in this case, since it was indoor with kids I didn't really want something fumey.
Almost all hardwax oils are low/no voc last time I checked.