Please Help - linseed disatser!

[FamilyWiggs]

You may remember I laid my slate flags recently.

Am about to grout them, and thought it would make sense to seal them first - I don't want a shiny seal;, just a matt seal.

I started with warmed raw linseed from Holkham, with the excess wiped off the following morning. This has worked well and looks rather nice.

And then disaster of disasters... I ran out of Holkham raw linseed oil and didn't want to wait a few days for more to arrive. The local DIY shed sold 500ml bottles of boiled linseed oil which described itself on the back as a "pure special blend". I had read on here a number of times that to seal a floor one should use boiled as opposed to raw linseed oil.

It was a little darker in colour, but it seemed to do the trick on the Heather Browns in the dining room, so I decided to give it a go on the rest of the slate...

OH $H1T!

When I came down this morning to rub off the excess, it has formed a shiny glutinous coating, that seems impossible to shift. So far I have tried scrubbing with warm water and detergent (Fairy Liquid) to no avail, and have tried dilute stone cleaner (phosphoric acid), again with little effect.

Pls can someone suggest how I can remove boiled linseed oil from the surface of the floor!

Thanks

Robin

 

[Nemesis]

Try a bit of Nitromors - the slate is pretty tough stuff. Small test area first.

Or indeed try white spirit (or turps).

I'd be wary of linseed on porous tiles though, in the short term it may be OK but in the long term (see conservation advice on the tilesoc site) it can sink deeply into the tiles and turn black.

 

[FamilyWiggs]

Nemesis,

Thanks very much - green Nitromoors seems to be doing the trick. Seems to emulsify it into a gunge that can be scrubbed off Phew!

Am now high as a kite on the petro-chemical haze emanating from the Nitromoors, but at least SWMBO has calmed down a little at my mistake!

Thanks again.

Robin

 

[FamilyWiggs]

Incidentally the turps didn't seem to do much.

I think whatever goes into Nitromors to make it "bubble" and "lift" is what makes it so much easier to remove - less scrubbing. If it wasn't for the fact they have mostly disintegrated, we'd have a small mounting of scouring pads to dispose off...

 

[Nemesis]

I think whatever goes into Nitromors to make it "bubble" and "lift"

Eye of toad I suspect.

 

[FamilyWiggs]

OK - one afternoon of hard scrubbing later, and the situation is retrieved.

If anyone comes after me, having the same problem, in the end the process was:

Brush Nitromors (green) over the whole slate.
Leave for 20 mins.
Scrub with soapy water and "metal" spongy pam scourer (carefully so as not to scratch slate)
Rinse
Rub dry with towel

I will try and reseal later with the raw linseed oil. I'm quite happy with the slightly darker matt finish I have got with the rest of the floor.

 

[Penners]

Eye of toad I suspect.

NB: This must be applied while you hover through the fog and filthy air.

 

[Jon Maine]

OK - one afternoon of hard scrubbing later, and the situation is retrieved.

If anyone comes after me, having the same problem, in the end the process was:

Brush Nitromors (green) over the whole slate.
Leave for 20 mins.
Scrub with soapy water and "metal" spongy pam scourer (carefully so as not to scratch slate)
Rinse
Rub dry with towel

I will try and reseal later with the raw linseed oil. I'm quite happy with the slightly darker matt finish I have got with the rest of the floor.

Well I could have told you that, I suffered the same problem about 10 years ago!!

 

[skier-hughes]

For future use, you may find some of the Holkham linseed soap an excellent product for removing this sort of thing, apart from Penner's disappointment I've found it cleans just about everything, and is the only product that I've found that cleans printer ink straight off your hands

 

[FamilyWiggs]

I did wonder about Holkham linseed soap, but it was the middle of a bank holiday weekend and delivery would have been around about now. By which time I was concerned I'd have 3mm of toffee on top of my floor!

 

[skier-hughes]

By which time I was concerned I'd have 3mm of toffee on top of my floor!

In which case you could have used a dog or kids :shock:

 

[Nemesis]

I suspect gunk would have removed it too - although poss not the most eco friendly of materials, it does shift engine gunge quite well.

 

[Ian Bond]

What's the magic ingredient in linseed soap?

As far as I know, it's raw linseed oil and water.

The soap costs £8.50 per litre, the raw linseed £7.50.

Can we mix the soap ourselves, or am I missing something (quite possibly) ?

 

[piper]

What's the magic ingredient in linseed soap?

Having just paid nearly £15 for 250 ml of Holkam shellac knotting, I'm inclined to think the magic ingredient is the Viscount's crest on the bottle.

Mind you, the linseed oil is exquisitely refined. It goes on beautifully when discreetly heated (by the chauffeur? - sorry!), makes our new Douglas Fir windows look positively noble, and I'm looking forward to using the paint.

 

[FamilyWiggs]

The linseed oil really is exquisite - much nicer than the "raw" stuff from my local 'mongers.

The paints are lovely to use too - even I can make a window look nice with them!

 

[Nemesis]

Has anyone used their Spruce Green?

 

[Ian Bond]

My butler heats the linseed oil for me in a silver paint kettle

Makes sense to get as a purified a raw linseed as possible for priming, so I don't object to paying extra.

However, I just use cheaper Br*wax Shellac for knotting and it's OK. It's just shellac flakes dissolved in methanol.

I'm quite happy to pay a premium for the Holkham linseed paint and oil, and I hope (trust) that it won't disappoint like the other modern paints I've used.

I've even heated some of their paint up to use a primer when I had no good quality raw linseed to hand, which is a very expensive way of going, but OK for a one off.

But for the moment I'm putting the linseed soap in the same class as ready made limewash, i.e. paying a lot of £££ for water.

 

[Ian Bond]

No, but in the same vein as saving money on maintenance oil and soap when you can use their raw linseed oil instead, is it worth trying to mix your own colours with added pigments?

I know Holkham suggest mixing their own paints to create the desired shades, but if you've got plenty of white paint for other jobs, and only need a bit of green for a small job.....?

 

[skier-hughes]

But for the moment I'm putting the linseed soap in the same class as ready made limewash, i.e. paying a lot of £££ for water.

Don't think water is an ingredient and all I can say, as before, is it's a pretty darned good cleaner and I've been happy with it. Though I wouldn't buy it for everyday use :wink:

 

[Nemesis]

I only have a small job - a garden seat to paint, new back and sides of Douglas Fir. I want a blue green and Spruce looks about it on the screen, but...

Biff reckons if I coat the wood first with the oil I should get enough from a tester pot to do the rest. My innate meanness finds that idea attractive...