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Larch oil vs clear decking oil

Updated: 23 October 2026

You want the new boards to stay honey-coloured, or you want them to silver, and the listings both say natural. Larch oil vs clear decking oil is that choice. Pigmented larch oil here means Osmo Decking-Oil 009 and Bondex Larches Oil. The clear deck product Osmo names is 007, which is not one of the four amazon.co.uk tins, and which the maker says has no UV protection. Prices stay on the [larch oil comparison](/hub/paints-and-varnishes/larch-oil). The Products Compared editorial team set this out on 19 October 2026 from Osmo UK’s pages and those listings. We did not weather two sample boards side by side. A qualifying purchase can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

You want the new boards to stay honey-coloured, or you want them to silver, and the listings both say natural. Larch oil vs clear decking oil is that choice.

Our top picks

Osmo Osmo 009 larch oil 0.75 litre

Best overall

Osmo Osmo 009 larch oil 0.75 litre
7.6/10about £23.82
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Osmo Osmo 009 larch oil 2.5 litres

Rank 2

Osmo Osmo 009 larch oil 2.5 litres
8.4/10about £72.31
View offer
Bondex Bondex larch oil 3 litres

Best value

Bondex Bondex larch oil 3 litres
8.0/10about £30.36
View offer
On this page
  1. 1.Two products people mix up
  2. 2.If you want the wood to stay warm
  3. 3.If you want it to silver
  4. 4.What neither choice is

Two products people mix up

Osmo’s clear decking oil is 007, marked with no UV protection, and the wood is expected to grey. Decking-Oil 009 is the larch shade, a transparent satin that still carries pigment. Osmo says a darker colour resists UV more than a lighter one. That is not factor 12. Factor 12 belongs to UV-Protection Oil, which is outside this category. The 009 listings are sold as natural or natural-tinted larch oil. UK reviews of the 2.5 litre tin describe tan, orange, or red-brown. Bondex bullets say the oil maintains the natural appearance, and our files have no test that shows it is clear. The other lookalike is a clear UV oil for vertical wood. Osmo does not recommend it on a deck, because horizontal boards hold rain.

If you want the wood to stay warm

Choose a pigmented oil, and accept a tint you can see on day one. Osmo 009 is part 11500021 in 2.5 litres at £72.31, 4.6 from 487, and part 11500020 in 0.75 litre at £23.82, 4.7 from 140, on the 19 October 2026 scrape. The small tin is the offcut. The large tin is the deck after you like the patch. Bondex at £30.36 for 3.0 litres is about £10.12 a litre, against about £28.92 for the large Osmo. It is matte and mentions weather and UV protection without a factor. If the dry patch is the tan UK reviewers describe and you wanted pale larch, more litres will not thin it. If the tin says woodstain, you have left decking oil.
Osmo Osmo 009 larch oil 0.75 litre

Testsieger

Osmo Osmo 009 larch oil 0.75 litre
7.6/10about £23.82
View offer

If you want it to silver

Choose 007, or leave the boards uncoated, and accept grey. Osmo is plain: no UV protection, and the wood greys. 007 has no star count and no price in our four-tin set, so it is not ranked against Bondex. If grey is not acceptable either, this range has no clear oil that holds a honey colour. Osmo’s answer for holding colour is pigment.

What neither choice is

Neither oil is a wood preservative. Larch heartwood is durability class 3–4 and sapwood is class 5. HSE product type 8 needs authorisation. Neither oil is a grip guarantee. 009 is not the anti-slip coat, and 007 is not a textured tread. Bondex’s family text says the oil is only partly non-slip. Switching between clear and larch oil does not fix a deck that is already slick when wet. If the patch looks right, stay with a tinted tin. If the offcut is too dark and grey is acceptable, buy 007. If it is too dark and grey is not acceptable, stop.

Common questions

Will a clear decking oil keep larch honey-coloured?
No. Osmo says 007 has no UV protection and the wood greys naturally. A clear coat can still bead water and slow dirt. It does not hold the fresh-sawn colour the way a pigmented oil can slow greying. If honey colour is the goal, you are looking at 009 or a tinted oil such as Bondex, and you still have to like the tint on a dry patch.
Is Osmo 009 clear?
No. It is a natural shade with pigment. Osmo lists it separately from 007, and UK reviews of the 2.5 litre tin describe tan, orange, or red-brown. Transparent on a satin oil means you can still see grain. It does not mean the colour of the wood is unchanged.
What is 007 for?
It is Osmo’s clear Decking-Oil, for people who want a clear coat and will let the deck silver. The maker marks UV protection as none. It is not in the four listings on our comparison, so we do not quote a UK star rating or a shelf price for it. Buy it under that colour code, not by searching natural larch and hoping.
Can I put clear UV-Protection Oil on a deck?
Osmo does not recommend it on horizontal wood, because decks hold rain. That clear UV oil is for vertical surfaces, and the factor 12 claim belongs to it, not to 009. If you insist on a clear coat on a deck, Osmo points you to 007 and expects greying. A fence and a terrace are not the same specification.
Does Bondex larch oil behave like a clear oil?
The listing says it maintains the natural appearance, and it also claims weather and UV protection, without a factor and without a clear-versus-tint test in our files. Treat it as a tinted matte oil until your own patch says otherwise. It is not Osmo 007, and it is not a colourless finish you can assume from the word natural.
Which one if I want the silver look?
Osmo’s clear decking oil, 007, or no coating at all. Both paths let the surface grey. 007 will not stop that, and the maker says so. Do not buy 009 and hope a thin coat will be pale enough to count as clear. UK reviewers already found it was not.
Which one if I want a warm tone and I accept a tint?
Stay with pigmented oil: Osmo 009 if you want the listing with 487 ratings, or Bondex if you want about £10 a litre and a matte finish. Brush an offcut first. If that patch is the colour you meant, the main comparison is where you choose the tin. If it is too dark, the warm-tone plan has already failed, and a second coat will not rescue it.

Related pages

Larch oil for decking

Larch oil buying guide

Best larch oil

Larch oil

How to apply larch oil: thin coats, wipe, and cloths

Sources

Public sources from the research digest, last checked on 22 October 2026. Shelf prices and star lines are the amazon.co.uk figures in the display file, scraped 19 October 2026. The price band is this set, not a market average. No listing was lab-tested.

  1. Osmo UK Decking-Oil (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  2. Osmo UK: clear finish on decking (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  3. Forest Research FRRP035: BS EN 350 classes for larch (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  4. HSE biocidal product types (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  5. VOC in Paints, Varnishes and Vehicle Refinishing Products Regulations 2012 (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  6. Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 11 (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  7. East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service: fire hazards of linseed oil (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  8. TRADA: specifying timber exposed to weathering (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  9. amazon.co.uk listings in this set (retrieved 19 October 2026)