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We have a client that is determined to use boiled linseed oil on an exterior mahogany deck – 300 sq. ft. more or less. He swears this is the best stuff to use (he’s pretty much old school). Does anyone have experience with this?
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Used it ever since I was a little kid. Love the smell, some people hate it. Stained all the open beams in my house with 50% mix of thinner BLO and burnt sienna (sp).
Used on solid Walnut furniture for >50 years.
b IT IS NOT A 1 TIME APPLICATION ITEM. Grandpa's old rule of thumb is to apply once a day for a week, once a week for a month, once a month for a year, once a year for LIFE. Ask your client if he wants to do this. Don't try raw, it'll stay tacky for months.
I've not followed this rule on anything except furniture, but probably is needed on weather exposed deck. Can get gummy if not wiped properly.
*As long as he's willing to keep applying a new coat once every 6 months or so, it'll work just fine.
*I would probably try to talk him out of it. As others mentioned it is a very high maintainance finish, especially outdoors. Boiled linseed oil tends to collect more airborne dirt. If you do end up using it try to find the "nonphotochemically reactive" type, and be prepared to use it often. :)
*Makes a nice natural looking finish with a soft sheen. May cause allergic itching and sneezing, does have a strong aroma. Weather conditions determine how often it needs to be reapplied. Takes a while to dry. If thinned properly will not be too sticky..
*Jim, I have used boiled linseed oil for years on my garden tools and other wood handle tools. The boiled will set up and finish hard. It seems to hold up well to daily exposure to sun, rain, dirt and abrasion. It is an annual winter chore to sand and re-oil my tools.As far as a deck use, I see no problems except as already mentioned. I use a manufactured exterior oil finish on my siding and decks which is linseed oil based. It is Behrs #92 natural sealer. I have had good luck with it though it lacks the UV blocking ability of other products thus requireing more frequent applications.Another popular choice around here is Messmers. It also is a linseed oil based exterior finish. I am tol;d it has better UV blocks thus maintains the natural appearance of wood longer than the Behrs.walk gooddavid
*What's the difference between boiled and raw ??? I've heard that Linseed Oil can be used for and makes a very good concrete sealer ??
*Stuff tastes terrible.
*What's the difference between boiled and raw ???Just like it says, boiled is boiled to remove high volitaile compounds. Old time painters (maybe still do) added raw to slow drying time. Raw is as it comes pressed from the seeds (flax, linen, linseed oil, etc.) The original "oilcloth" was raw linseed oil saturated canvas, water rolled off like a "duck". I understand sails used to be treated with it in the olden days (recall reading about both leather sails and linseed oil coated sails in Ceasear's commentaries on Gaul)
*be very careful with your rags..linseed oil is very conducive to spontaneous combustion.....
*Good point Mike, I should learn to never assume others know some basic safety we learned as kids. I believe there was a "Great Moments" FHB story in late 80's on somebody burning their new house down by throwing the rags in a corner. Rags into a corner is kind of like the people who've shot themselves in the foot loading six into an old SA, never knew any better.
*Boiled vs. raw linseed oil: Boiled linseed oil products usually contain harmful additives that help the product dry quicker. Raw is the pure oil which doesn't dry very well and has potential to turn rancid.
*Boiled is actually not "boiled". Driers are added to raw to get boiled.
*Just a little basic comment -- linseed oil is a complex organic polymer. The same organisms that degrade wood degrade linseed oil. Critters like molds, mildews and fungi.Adding straight linseed oil (boiled or otherwise) may look nice but you are just providing an additional food source UNLESS there is some toxic substance like a wood preservative added.Personally I feel that a wax addition to the linseed oil, as a water repellant, would be most helpful and beneficial. The combination of these ingredients is the basis for the FPL finish developed at the Forest Products Lab in Madison WI some 50+ years ago. Their tests indicate increased longevity in service for wood so treated.But since it is a public domain formulation, companies see no benefit in producing the stuff.
*It's still possilble to get safe, boiled linseed oil without the chemical driers, if it's to be in contact with a food item for instance. Here's a site:http://www.scaldis-ruien.com/Safety/msdsBoiled.htmIf i were you, i'd throw some cheap varnish in the oil and still flood the finish. The varnish will do a bit for the finish's staying power, but won't peel off in a sheet.
*Just to add a little more information on linseed oil;Raw linseed oil is extracted from the flax seeds by pressure (squezed out)Boiled linseed oil is extracted from the seed by using heat (thus it is "boiled" out of the seed).Both boiled and raw linseed oils are drying type oils, which means that they react with air(oxygen) to complete a reduction reaction to produce the solid film.Many modern day linseed oils can contain driers to speed the curring process. These are most generally trace amounts of manganese or cobalt, but could be a varity of others including lead. These driers are not used in products intended for contact with food, so if you want to avoid contact with "heavey metals", look for a food safe label.linseed oil is just that- an oil. It is not a polymer, and does not polymerise to create a film. Polymer chains have open chemical sites that link with each other to form a film. Drying oils only link with the oxygen at vacant sites on each oil molecule. When every site is full, the film is dry. Heat and solvent can easily extract the O2 from those site so the film can be resoluiablized.Just some food for thought from an old chemistry student/ lab tech.Dave
*Just to correct the last line in my post. Heat (mild) and solvent do not release the O2 from curred linseed oil film. Both breakdown the fairly weak bond between the oil molecules.Thought I had better correct myself before someone else here does it.Dave
*Dave, they can add lead? Do you know of manufacturer's that are still doing that? I'd like to avoid them if possible...thanks.
*I think most varnishes contain linseed oil. Exterior varnishes are ok.. But sunlight and other things in the air will deteriorate Varnishes & linseed oils.
*The amount of lead in paint or paint type products has been closely regulated since about 1971-2. I got out of product developement and formulation in 1976. At that time the amount of heavey metals in a product only had to be on the label when it exceeded 0.01% by weight or volume of the product. Most metal driers at that time were 0.01% additive of a 0.05 to 0.10% solution. Thus the trace amount was somewhere around 0.001% or less of the total weight or volume of the product. We were also examining some organic driers to replace even those small amounts of heavey metals. I am sure they have succeeded by now. My point is that because the regulations haven't changed, there is the remote possibility that heavey metals could still be legally used, and not be listed on the labels. The safest course is a product that is safe for contact with food. Of course you woud need to ingest something like 2-3 gallons of the bad stuff to produce symptons of lead poisoning.Since you wish to avoid lead at all cost, I would suggest you examin any candels you have in your home. I just learned a few weeks ago that many candles have a lead wire inside the wicks. We threw out obout six in our house after finding the lead wire wicks. None of them were labeled as containing lead. Best of luck, Dave
*Thanks for explaining, Dave. I thought the lead amount might be on the order of what used to be in (white) paint, and i didn't know the regulations on the amounts. Thinking i may wear gloves next time i oil, however.I read that candles that are made in China have the wire in the wick center. No one's going to die outright from any one thing, but no need to buy more poison than i absolutely need...
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We have a client that is determined to use boiled linseed oil on an exterior mahogany deck - 300 sq. ft. more or less. He swears this is the best stuff to use (he's pretty much old school). Does anyone have experience with this?