ᐅ Staircase renovation with softwood stringers, 12 steps

Hello everyone,

We have taken apart a wooden staircase to the attic (12 steps, two stringers, all made of softwood, screwed together) to sand it down and treat it after 20 years.
When we moved in 10 years ago, the staircase was only clear-coated (the finish was already quite damaged). Unfortunately, we made a bad mistake by applying linseed oil over the lacquer. The oil didn’t properly absorb into the wood but partly remained on the finish, resulting in a somewhat sticky surface that attracts dust. Cleaning it is difficult.

Now we want to address the problem and avoid making another mistake:
The individual stair treads and stringers will be sanded down separately, leaving the wood bare and untreated. We don’t want to paint or varnish it; instead, we are considering oiling or waxing (or both).

Here are our questions:

• What is the best approach here? Are there any recommendations, perhaps from your own experience?

• What is your opinion on carnauba wax?

Thank you in advance for the information!

Best regards

I once had a similar woodworking issue and found several forums through common search engines where many people are deeply involved in woodworking. Perhaps you will get an answer to this question faster there than here.

I would recommend a hard wax oil, for example from the company Clou.
Regards