If you are unsure what finish to use then experiment until you find one that you like, for my very first turnings I used ‘speedneeze’ which is a sanding sealer and polish all in one bottle and available from Record. With time you will get a little more adventurous and there are plenty of choices of oils, paste wax, shellac based sanding sealers, melamine sprays & carnauba wax etc to try. Perhaps the first thing for you to consider is :-

1. What use will your item have i.e. if it is an item of treen then it will need to have a durable finish as it will be subject to some hard use and will no doubt have contact with water.
2. Will it be handled much.
3. Do you want a matt finish or a high polish.
4. Will you keep the item or is there a possibility you will sell or give it away as a gift.

I could go on but that will do for starters, let us examine each item
1. Normal finishes are not waterproof, treen items if oiled with a food safe oil they can be wiped over with a wet cloth or washed and dried, quickly i.e. not to be left soaking in a washing up bowl or put in a dish washer. The only product that may be worth trying to make a turnings waterproof is possibly plastic coating which is not for outside use and is probably best applied to flat areas. I have some on the shelf but have never tried it as yet, another thing to add to the list.
2. If an item is likely to be handled a lot then again you should be wary of using a finish that will quickly wear of when handled. There are Melamine finishes available that are excellent and available in either a matt or gloss finish.
3. This is personal preference but again will help determine what finish to use, wax polish will give a highly polished finish when buffed and this can be sealed with a combination of bees and carnauba wax.
4. There are many oil finishes on the market but you should consider that some people have nut allergies so you must be wary if your answer to number 4 is Yes. Your salad bowl for example could cause anyone with a nut allergy a relapse or god forbid in a bad case even death. So you should be very carefull and if you are to pass on or sell a finished item then you should not use Walnut oil, better safe than sorry!.

I personally use Danish oil for most of my turnings, once cured say after 24 hours or so it is food safe. Three or four coats can be applied with normally say 24 hours between applications. The oil does tend to darken the wood slightly once applied but will bring out the colouring of the grain, wax polish can be used on top of a dried Danish oil finish for that extra shine. One word of warning if you have not used oil before make sure that you dispose of cloths properly after use, very much like teak or tung oil you should dry cloths preferably outside and lay flat, better still submerge in an old jar or wide neck bottle full of water this will ensure that there is no risk of the cloth self igniting due to internal combustion.

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