We have a Teak outdoor bench that we want to finish and put on our covered porch. Today I sanded the blench smooth and cleaned with oxygen bleach to get rid of the mold and mildew. Once the bench dries thoroughly I want to finish with a varnish. We want the bench to be dark, ideally I want it to have a wet look when finished. The bench will be next to our front door which is a mahogany stained a dark reddish brown, so I would like to the bench to be as dark as possible and to highlight the reddish tones in the wood. I read a few websites about the process and one guy said to clean the bench with denatured alcohol before varnishing, and then for the first coat of varnish to cut the varnish with laquer thinner, then afterwards gradually reduce the cutting until the last coat is not cut as all. Another website said to prepare a mixture of thinner, linseed oil, and varnish.

I've never finished Teak wood before so any help would be great. If you ahve any suggestions on the procedure or which product to buy I would appreciate your input. Thanks!

Bob