Is there an alternative to Osmo Wax?

[Manny]

I really wanted to use this on my floorboards. I've managed to tidy them up with some Nitromors and get whatever that black stuff was that had been painted on them (nasty job, eww!).

Now I have them back to a 'kind of' uniform colour I wanted to use a very thin coat of Osmo Opaque Black on them to cover up all the imperfections made by stripping back the black tar like stuff that was on them (I did actually like the blackened look). I've read that it takes 12hrs for this to dry and due to the nature of the room and time constraints I need to place furniture on the newly painted section while I do the rest of the room, plus I only have one day to do it as I work away from home.

Has anyone had experience of a similar product that covers without any brush marks, that comes in a very dark colour and dries reasonably quickly? I liked the environment friendly claims of Osmo, but I’m willing to compromise on this to get the job done… needs must unfortunately.

 

[thiambal]

Not to add to your burden but when we looked into using Osmo Hard Wax Oil for our floor we were also told that we should avoid resting furniture on it and avoid heavy traffic for up to two weeks! As the room is the only route to our kitchen and I cannot afford to take Mrs C out to eat every night for two weeks we are having to look for other options.....but in answer to your question - we have not found an alternative.

 

[Lime]

I think you are asking for the impossible, to be able to paint half the floor and then immediately use it by placing furniture on it, it can't be done no matter what you use.

 

[Manny]

I thought they'd be something, but as you rightly say, even looking at the Ronseal quick drying stuff it looks like it'll be a while before the room can be used.

Thanks for the advice, guess I'll wait until the new year for this job.

 

[thiambal]

I thought they'd be something, but as you rightly say, even looking at the Ronseal quick drying stuff it looks like it'll be a while before the room can be used.

Well, I suppose the best advice would be to do exactly what it says on the tin......


I know, I'm sorry I just cannot resist it

 

[Mark]

All of these floor things dry much faster in hot weather - I would wait until summer. Nice hot day, windows open.

With floor paint I found a huge difference between hot dry day and cold day.

 

[GeoffP]

I am doing a similar project at the moment and I have the same time limit problem.

I am thinking of getting the wood to the correct colour first, using Van Dyck Crystals, then using Osmo Polyx Oil Rapid which, according to the writeup, should be ready for use in about 24 hours.

As this is for use in a living kitchen with a fairly high volume of traffic,I am a bit concerned as to whether the oil is as durable as the wax.

http://www.0845floorco.com/images/productinformation/osmo/Natural%20Wood%20Finishes%20for%20Interior%20Wood.pdf (Page 4)

I am also looking at “Traffic” as an alternative. This looked quite easy to use when it was shown on TV in the Fulford’s mansion the other night.

http://www.0845floorco.com/images/productinformation/Bona/Traffic%20Product%20Description.pdf

Has anyone any experience with either of these?

Any guidance would be appreciated.

Geoff

 

[Moo]

My (old pine) floor was treated with an arcane mixture of oils and waxes (I think Tung featured), applied hot, about ten years ago.

Since then it has been vacuumed occasionally and Traffic Waxed* about once a year. Works a treat.


* I spread it on, leave it to dry overnight, and then go over it with one of those triple-head polishing machines.

 

[Toby Newell]

Hello world

Yes I'm back. If you are new to this site, I am the wood finishing man.

My website is finished for now so feel free to check it out. Let me know what you think (please take a bow Nigel Watts and Mark Jarvis your beautiful floors are featured, let me know if royalties are in order) If you link to the site you can find my two period property articles linked on the first page (hope this is alright Robert, free plug for PPUK on my home page!) and there are some nice pics on there. I am thinking of doing a special page just for customers where I can post pictures of samples etc. Perhaps next time I do a period house I will take many pics and then publish a mini how to page. Right.

MANNY: 1. If you havent removed all of the previous (what sounds like) bituminous paint then oil or wax is your only way to go, nothing else will adhere (as the paint is made from coal tar and has oils and resins in it, only oil or wax will go ontop of an oil impregnated surface even if there is just a little contamination, so always test a small area) Sanding back is your only option to remove all traces. (dont fret, see my site you CAN sand responsibly and RETAIN the patination)

2. If you have got rid of all the "black tar like stuff" then you can try these two methods.

A. Mylands water black powder, make up water stain, apply. Dry in few hours. Put furniture back. Next day, coat in shellac, Mylands transparent pale polish or Shellac Floor sealer, Novaquick barrier seal or infact ANY transparent pale shellac polish (you may have to thin it with meths) shellac dries in around 20mins! Put one coat on a day and then wax, about three coats of shellac should do it and a couple of waxes. Not as durable Osmo oil but dries very very fast and looks great.

B. Mylands (or any other) black shellac polish (or pale polish with spirit black dye added) you may want to add some vegtable black pigment to get more opacity. Mix well, apply, dries in 20 mins, voila!

GEOFF P: Oil and wax ARE NOT durable for the kitchen. I would reccommend Bona traffic or Ronseal Contractor. Ronseal dries quicker and can be tricky to apply on hot days or large areas. Bona traffic is v expensive why not go for Bona mega if you dont have dogs etc.? Mega and Ronseal contractor are 100% polyurethane waterbased lacquers oxygen curing and have similar durability. Bona traffic is a two part polurethane chemically crosslinked waterbased finish and is approximately twice as durable according to the international scuff resistance tests. All are similar in water reppellant performance and will outlast wax or oil in kitchens or bathrooms. BTW, I use Bona traffic in most of my commercial jobs and either traffic or mega in peoples homes.

INTERESTING NOTE:

I will not mention any names as I do not want to get PPUK in trouble. I will just remind those of you who havent worked it out yet that "Green Marketing" is the new capitalist buzzword. (Oil companies' new green corporate symbol's look great as they spew tons of crude oil in to the pristine Alaskan landscape...) Oils and waxes all made from plants all very nice, backed by a massive marketing campaign and even some questionable persistant contributors to this site a while back. FACT oil and wax finishes have 35 to 50% VOC (solvent) content, most waterbased lacquers have less than 6% and waterborne lacquers are made from maize starch. Except modern lacquers come in plastic containers and people ASSUME its horrible chemicals. Then they see the market spiel on the oil product and see some nice pictures of pretty flowers, read the carefully worded gumpf and hey presto it must be "green". Just thought I'd let you know! I don't use oil finishes unless specified by misty-eyed architects/designers as they contain too much solvent. They look nice and can be patch repaired but virtually no commercial floors are oiled compared to being coated with other stronger finishes. I know they say they are strong but you cannot get an oil finish rated to ONORM C 2354 Cat C (very heavy wear) for durability.

Sorry to be pedantic, I am NOT against oil finishes, they can look beautiful and have their uses, but I AM against people being mislead.
Oils and polyurethane varnishes work EXACTLY the same way, the natural oils in them link together to form a skin, thats it. Oil finishes took a long time to dry and were not terribly durable and water resistant so some clever bods found that heating oils with salts of lead etc made them dry quicker/last longer, and polyurethane was begat. These days zinc or zirconium is used as it is non toxic. This was all going swimmingly until governments admitted to us that there was a hole in the ozone layer and we were all going to die and its all our fault. So instead of producing less the world now produces still more of the same stuff but markets and packages it more gently to appeal to its new found caring customers. I apologise again. I really do care about the environment, please feel free to use whatever product you think is best but it really upsets me when companies use "green issues" to market and sell virtually identical products.

Did you know? OIL FINISH: 30 to 50% white spirit, 50 to 70% natural oils. Polyurethane varnish 30 to 50% white spirit, 50 to 70% made from natural oils. One is loved the other hated!. White spirit comes from OIL! er HELLO! Ok so yes I DO always read the nutritional information before I buy... but I HAVE to read product technical data sheets as its part of my job, amazing what you can find out if you read. Do not be fooled! Shellac is made from the sticky exudate of a beetle, is harmless, used on sweets and tablets and the solvent is wood alcohol. There are no pretty pictures of sustainable forests in Sri Lanka with lovely little beetles on the tin because it is not a mass market product!

Toby

PS Thought I'd start off with a rant. That's better.

 

[Moo]

What a lovely surprise ! ! !

Welcome back, Toby.

xxxx Moo

 

[GeoffP]

Many thanks for that Toby, I do have dogs so I think I will settle for the Traffic. Would you consider it advisable to use a sealer first, probably the Osmo Wood protecter?

The room in question is about 30 ft long and will eventually be a “living kitchen”, the floor is half old pine 8” boards and half new that I put in some months ago. My intention is to lightly sand the old to get rid of the old varnish which will then (almost) match the new boards. I will then stain both to a reasonably matching darkish colour with Van Dycke, followed possibly by a wood sealer, then finish with Traffic.

Can you foresee any problems with that?

 

[GeoffP]

PS. Can I have a link to your web site, can't find anything in Google.

Thanks,

Geoff

 

[Moo]

If you have a look at the very bottom of Toby's message you will see a series of little oblong buttons; the last one is labelled www and if you click on that, it should take you straight to his website (which is well worth a visit).

 

[biffvernon]

You make some good points, Toby. I'd add that when you buy a finish with lots of solvent you are paying for stuff that just evaporates instead of staying on you wood doing something useful. So a can of paint, even an evrironmentally friendly water based one, can be an expensive way of buying a lot of water. I don't do floors so durability under foot isn't an issue but when I finish wood with linseed oil or tung oil or linseed oil paint there is zero VOC. Everything I put on the wood stays there.

BTW Toby, if you want to clean a brush you've just used for shellac what's the best way?

 

[GeoffP]

Thanks Moo, why didn't I think of that.

I agree, well worth a visit.

Geoff

 

[Manny]

HAHA! Thanks for the eye opener Toby, I'll have a rethink and do a bit of digging before I jump in with what I *think* is best.

Cheers for all the advice.

 

[Craig]

Having used Tungoil on worktops (diluted with thiners for the first few coats but then building up to a pure layer) I can agree that its great.

How did you apply it to a floor?

 

[Toby Newell]

Van Dyke crystals nice with a touch of water black I think. Seal with thinned out coat of shellac (pure shellac NOT sealer, NOT button polish, a nice dewaxed shellac like pale transparent or special pale, dilute with 50% meths) leave to dry for a few hours to be sure (touch dry 20-30 mins. Traffic will go on no problem.

Use Meths to wash out your brush, keep in plastic bag, then sandwich tin etc. If you have bought a nice mop then dont forget to point it!

Toby

 

[thiambal]

Hi Toby,

How does Traffic perform long term? I understand that it is very durable - but does it eventually chip, blister, flake leaving an uneaven surface for recoating? Can it be stripped off again - if so how?

Cheers

 

[Toby Newell]

Thiambal

Traffic is the most durable site applied low odour finish in the world.

Only site finishes which are perhaps more durable are moisture cured polyurethanes or two part acid catalysed finishes or factory applied UV cured finishes.

Traffic is probably the most elastic finish you can get in that it moves with the wood, it does not flake, peel or chip, rather it is designed to wear slowly. If you prepeare the surface properly and coat it correctly you should NEVER need to strip it off and redo it. I use it in Hotels, galleries etc. You can strip it by hand or by sanding. After a few years it's hard work though!

Toby