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I thought I read it in the magazine, an old timer mentioned by brand name a kind of oil finish used on wood flooring that worked great, lasted a long time. Now I can’t find it anywhere. Anyone remember the reference or the finish by name?
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I have always used a mixture of 1/3rd boiled linseed oil, 1/3rd Tung oil (pure, not the poly admix) and 1/3rd pure turpentine. Apply the oil to saturation, mop off the excess and then buff the floor with a floor-polisher and a black nylon pad. The following day apply a little paste-wax and buff to remove "bleed-back" If you still get bleed-back, repeat the wax and buff. To maintain the floor just buff it occasionally (like once in 6 months!) otherwise just sweep/vacuum as normal. Advantages:- UV resistant, non-toxic, beautiful appearance that improves with wear, allows the timber to breathe so it is good over floor heating or a (slightly) damp sub-base, easy maintenance, no surface coating to scratch/scuff, no need for a dust-free atmosphere during application.
Disadvantages:- Spilled water/beer/blood will stain if left, final sand on the timber has to be very good as a scratch will stand out like dogs' balls, cannot be washed.
If you go with it, be very careful how you dispose of the cloth you use for mopping off as it will spontaneously combust very quickly
*Might it be Waterlox?
*Danish oil ?Indian sand wax?Cooper's Oil ?Wacto ?I'm guessing hedre but the above are all that come to mind
*I recently recommended "Meldos" oil by Livos. I can't say it has stood the test of time yet, but I believe it will. Last year, just about this time, I oiled an endgrain fir floor with it for a customer and just yesterday I was there for the first time since. I want to preface this by sayin' these folks are just plain HARD on a wood floor. They have all kinds of animals, including about a 150 lb dog and a frikkin' parrot who has free reign of the kitchen. Here's an example, another area in the same kitchen was tiled (by others)at the same time I did the block floor. They never got around to grouting the 1/2" tile, and the spaces all filled up with dirt, and potato, and whatever else happened to fall there over the past year. That block floor section of the kitchen was subjected to similiar use. Now, I'm not stretchin' the truth here, one bit. Okay, back to the oil. It looks fine. When I applied it, I saturated the blocks, over and over, for several days, each day breaking the surface loose with a buffer and green scratch pad and reflooding it with oil. I don't even know how many coats, but 4 or 5 days of sucessively fewer coats each day, until eventually it was done. Held up great, and I have every confidance it will in the future. I was skeptical about an oil finish until I saw the floor of the guy who recommended it to me. I'll tell you one thing, I'm never goin' back to polyurethanes, this stuff is good. Another thing, it is citrus based, so there are no harmful fumes or toxins to deal with. Good stuff. Livos has other oils for floors to.
*check out formby's
*I have used Watco Danish oil on new and old floors for years, it works great,fast, and can be touched up in high trafic places with no sanding,the old stuff was better but thanks to the 60 Min show its gone forever but the new stuff is not bad
*Cannot be washed? As in never, ever? What do you do to get the stuff you can't sweep up? Seems like I have to follow my kids around the house with a mop.Should it be waxed? If so, on what schedule? Could you wash it then?I confess, my house has hardwood that was done 50 years ago, almost certainly with some kind of oil, and I don't wax or buff it, but wash it every other week. Looks great. Well, actually it looks like crap, but it looks like the same kind of crap as when I bought the place.
*Vacuum and buff should be enough to keep the floor clean, if it isn't then the floor isn't suitable for the oil finish. Of course the floor can be waxed but it then becomes high-maintenance. I would never recommend this type of oiled finish for a Kitchen or similar wet area anyway.
*I've done several floors with boiled linseed oil cut 50%with turpentine - stain added if desired - 2-3 flooding applications over 24 hrs - ages gracefully and can be renewed occasionally as necessitated by wear and tear - maybe every couple of years on an entry way - original application looks good after 10 yrs in upstairs bedroom -
*Jim, What kind of drying time for Livos?
*Out of curiosity, why turpentine instead of cheap thinner?
*I have tried mineral turps and found that the pure turpentine is slightly oilier so slower drying. The oil mixture is sitting on the timber for some time while it soaks in so it needs to stay as thin as possible.
*Ian:There are some other variations on mineral spirits that evaporate slower, and are cheaper than the naval stores product. For instance, "deodorized" kerosine is from the same oil field distillation, just higher boiling compounds.I don't have my books around, but if you are interested, I will try to find out.
*It gets a skin overnight...I'd say it's ok for sockfeet in 24 hours, maybe cured in 72. I'll go read the can, maybe check out the web site...good question.
*John,Thanks for the info. The whole point with the system that I used is that surplus oil on the surface is removed once the timber is saturated, there isn't a coating as such.Once I have finished that is the worst the floor will ever look, constant wear and use gives the floor the same patina as that on a well-used wooden tool.The only maintenance needed is to rub in some oil if the surface anywhere looks "hungry".Because it is penetrative the oil seems to make the surface of the timber translucent so areas of fiddleback or ribboning look almost 3D.I've used it on most of the Oz flooring timbers, also a lot of English Oak. For an aged look on Oak I used to finish with a black beeswax wash, then buff off to leave the black in the grain.
*For John HyattI read somewhere, possibly in a previous post by you, John, that when Flecto Varathane bought out Watco, they changed the formula. So I wrote FV and got a reply from their tech. man. It was on 9-17-2000 that I e-mailed Flecto Varathane about Watco from their web site and Mr. Dwight Eads replied.Here's a direct copy of the pertinent part of his reply:"Thank you for your Watco Questions. Flecto has been making Watco for over 6 years. In our agreement we have made the ORIGINAL formula of Watco."So, John, tell me the "60 minute" story?ThanksWilliam
*yo William did you get my Email?? Mfan I thought everybody saw that 60 Min thing on Waco,,thats why the new Co. has only been making it for a few years, like the stuff has been around forever,,60 min did a piece on it hmmmmm 8 years or so ago about an apartment fire, as if any oil based product wouldent have done the same thing,,that was on a Sunday,,that Monday Waco went Banko,,and stayed that way until the Bayarea Co picked them up,,us guys with a major Waco habit went into a withdrawel thing,,its ok now but not as good as it was,,they had to tone it down.
*yo William did you get my Email?? manI thought everybody saw that 60 Min thing on Waco,,thats why the new Co. has only been making it for a few years, like the stuff has been around forever,,60 min did a piece on it hmmmmm 8 years or so ago about an apartment fire, as if any oil based product wouldent have done the same thing,,that was on a Sunday,,that Monday Waco went Banko,,and stayed that way until the Bayarea Co picked them up,,us guys with a major Waco habit went into a withdrawel thing,,its ok now but not as good as it was,,they had to tone it down.
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I thought I read it in the magazine, an old timer mentioned by brand name a kind of oil finish used on wood flooring that worked great, lasted a long time. Now I can't find it anywhere. Anyone remember the reference or the finish by name?