Acrylic varnish: filter the bottle before you compare prices
Updated: 22 October 2026
You are looking at a row of clear bottles on amazon.co.uk, all called acrylic varnish, and the titles do not describe the same job. One is a satin for a finished painting, one is a small pot for cards, and one title drifts into Christmas candles. The [acrylic varnish comparison](/hub/paints-and-varnishes/acrylic-varnish) holds the twelve shelf prices, star lines and review notes from 19 October 2026. This page is the filter in front of that table. Prices are a snapshot, links to Amazon are affiliate links, and there is no lab test. Peter F. edits DIY & tools for productscompared.co.uk.
You are looking at a row of clear bottles on amazon.co.uk, all called acrylic varnish, and the titles do not describe the same job.
You are looking at a row of clear bottles on amazon.co.uk, all called acrylic varnish, and the titles do not describe the same job. One is a satin for a finished painting, one is a small pot for cards, and one title drifts into Christmas candles. The acrylic varnish comparison holds the twelve shelf prices, star lines and review notes from 19 October 2026. This page is the filter in front of that table. Prices are a snapshot, links to Amazon are affiliate links, and there is no lab test. Peter F. edits DIY & tools for productscompared.co.uk.
Our top picks
| Badge | Product | Sheen | Pack | Removable claim | Note | Price | Offer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best overall |  Liquitex Liquitex Professional satin 237 ml | Satin | 237 ml (volume field 0.59 fl oz) | n/a | 9.6 | about £14.93 | View offer |
| Best value |  Baker Ross Baker Ross gloss craft 250 ml | Gloss | 250 ml (unit count 1) | n/a | 9.2 | about £8.99 | View offer |
| Alternative |  Winsor & Newton Winsor & Newton Galeria gloss 75 ml | Gloss | 75 ml | Removable gloss on the bullet | 9.2 | about £7.80 | View offer |
On this page
Start with the job
An acrylic varnish is a clear coat, and the job decides the bottle more than the word gloss in the title. A flat painting on canvas wants a picture varnish, a sheen you have already chosen, and a plain answer on whether you can lift the coat later. Small craft, painted rocks, clay and school projects want a water-based sealer. Outdoor ornaments want a label that actually says exterior use. A search snippet that says waterproof is not that label. In this set, a UK buyer of an EIGTWEN gloss went looking for something waterproof for stones and then found a picture varnish that did not keep the rain off. If the piece is a canvas you may need to clean in ten years, stay with the artist bottles and read varnish for acrylic paintings before you chase a craft bargain.
Sheen, then removable or permanent
Gloss deepens colour and throws the room back at you. Matte cuts glare and can lighten blacks, because the matting agent scatters light. Satin sits between those two, which is why it is often the calmer choice opposite a window. The optical choice is worked through on gloss vs matte varnish acrylic. Here sheen is only a filter: pick the look, then check whether the coat is meant to stay. Winsor & Newton Galeria gloss carries a removable-gloss bullet and says you can mix it with Galeria matt to change the sheen. Liquitex Professional satin does not say removable in the amazon saved listing. The maker's UK product page calls that satin permanent and tells you not to thin it with water. That is a different source from the amazon bullet, so keep the two sentences apart. An isolation coat under a permanent varnish does not make the varnish removable.
Water-based polymer, not a floor varnish
Every listing kept in this comparison is a water-based polymer bottle or tube. None of them is a mineral-spirit acrylic such as Liquitex Soluvar, and none of them is a floor, yacht or polyurethane coating. Jackson's Art notes that many water-based professional varnishes are not studio-removable, while a solvent MSA varnish can be lifted and needs ventilation. At work, the Health and Safety Executive's solvents guidance prefers water-based products and treats spraying as higher exposure than a brush. At home you still open a window. None of these saved listings prints a grams-per-litre VOC figure. SI 2012/1715 covers paints and varnishes for buildings, trim and fittings, and Schedule 2 caps water-borne trim varnish at 130 g/l. A canvas bottle is not automatically that subcategory, so these products are not shown here as meeting the cap. A non-toxic bullet is a marketing line, not a safety data sheet.
Size and the star line
Compare millilitres, not the sticker alone. On the 19 October 2026 raw prices, Baker Ross at £8.99 for 250 ml, Liquitex Basics gloss at £9.35 for a 250 ml tube, and the Shuttle Art gloss title at £16.99 for a stated 500 ml sit near £3.40 to £3.74 per 100 ml. Galeria at £7.80 looks modest until you divide by 75 ml and land near £10.40 per 100 ml. GRANOTONE high gloss is £12.00 for 100 ml, the steepest rate here. Pébéo at £3.30 is the lowest shelf price and only 59 ml. A 30 by 40 cm canvas in thin coats uses far less than a 100 by 100 cm canvas. Shuttle's 500 ml figure is a title, and the captured reviews are not from the UK, so do not treat that rate as settled.
Common questions
Is a water-based acrylic varnish enough, or do I need a solvent MSA varnish?
For a home canvas, a water-based acrylic varnish is the lower-odour choice in this set, and you still ventilate the room. A solvent MSA varnish, such as Liquitex Soluvar, is the type makers describe as removable with solvent, and it is not one of these twelve listings. Buy a stated removable gloss, such as the Galeria bullet, when you need to lift the coat later.
What is the difference between gloss, satin and matte before I buy?
Gloss reflects the room, including a window opposite the wall. Matte cuts that glare and can make blacks look lighter, because matting agents scatter light. Satin sits between the two. Liquitex limits matte and satin to one or two thin coats unless a gloss layer is underneath.
Which bottles in this set say removable, and which do not?
Galeria gloss says removable on the amazon bullet and says you can mix it with Galeria matt. Liquitex Professional satin does not say removable in the saved listing. The maker's UK page calls that satin permanent. Do not treat those as the same sentence. An isolation coat does not turn a permanent varnish into a removable one. The other craft bottles in this set do not give you a removal method.
How do I compare 59 ml, 75 ml, 100 ml and 250 ml without a false bargain?
Divide the shelf price by the title volume and look at price per 100 ml. A modest sticker on 59 ml or 75 ml can cost more per 100 ml than a 250 ml craft bottle. Pébéo is £3.30 and only 59 ml. Match the millilitres to the canvas, not to the lowest shelf price.
Does a waterproof or non-toxic bullet mean the bottle passed a UK test?
No. A waterproof word on a listing is not a specification, and several fields in this set contradict each other. A non-toxic bullet is not a safety data sheet. Baker Ross cites the General Product Safety Regulations, and the question about children using FE585 is unanswered, so that citation is not a named toy test. Read UK review notes for rain on rocks as anecdotes, not as an exterior approval.
Related pages
Sources
Public UK sources from the research digest, last checked on 19 October 2026. Shelf prices and star lines are the amazon.co.uk figures in the display file. The price band is this set, not a market average. No listing was cured in a lab.
- SI 2012/1715, VOC in paints and varnishes (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- SI 2012/1715 Schedule 2, trim varnish limits (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- HSE: solvents (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- Winsor & Newton UK: how to varnish acrylic paintings (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- Liquitex UK: varnishing acrylics (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- Liquitex UK: professional satin varnish (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- ARTdiscount: varnishing acrylic paintings (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- Daler-Rowney: how to varnish paintings (retrieved 19 October 2026)