Victorian black floor paint/varnish

[peter]

Does anyone know where i can get a dark floor stain for my pine floors. Many of them are covered by carpets at present and have a black paint-like varnish on them and I want to have a similar finish in the other rooms which have been stripped. Does anyone know what it is called?

I am trying to get a Victorian look, does this colour floor varnish date from this period or is it fromthe 1930s? I want to avoid 1930s style cues at all cost!

Thanks,

Peter

[Brigid]

I think the balck stuff's called black japani, and was used to preserve the floor - I've just sanded a load of it off, but would like to know more about the stuborn stuff! I think it may be a kind of wax, but I'm not sure.

[Mo]

When we tried to sand it off many decades ago we had to resort to Nitromors first, because the black stuff seemed to melt and clogged the abrasive sheets within minutes. We thought at the time that it must be some sort of tar!

[Martin R]

This topic seems to come up quite regularly and without an answer. Is it really a mystery lost to time to know what they used? As for black japanning, I alsways thought that was associated with the black paint/enamel applied to some screws.

[Mo]

It must be possible, surely, for a sample of the stuff to be analysed. Does anyone on the forum have access to a tame scientist?

[Alf]

Did you ever find a match as I would like the same thing.

[Helena]

If its around the edges only it might be the bitumen-based stuff the Victorians put down and the area where the carpet inevitably went was left bare. Its nasty stuff and I've been told to wear protection when ytring to remove it.

[peter]

Yes, Farr wo and Baqll's Mahogony floor paint does the trick, not quite as dark but give the floor and clean look although can show the dust terribly!