Finishing A Wood Floor With Tung Oil

Start with a ratio of one to one.

Finishing a wood floor with tung oil.

Cut the pure tung oil with mineral spirits paint thinner citrus solvent or turpentine. It is is a drying oil which came to north america around a century ago and was used historically for furniture and coatings. They all share the benefits that tung oil imparts to a finish durability water resistance resilient hardness and color stability depending on how much of the oil they actually contain and what form it takes. Hardwood floor finishes have varying levels of ease durability even glossiness.

Tung oil is a plant based oil used as a wood finish. Polymerized linseed oil is the best of both worlds. Ideally you want at least 2 coats of 100 tung oil 4 coats if 50 tung oil but you can apply more. Most old home restorers preferred this oil since it was easy to apply and maintain a low sheen making the floor look natural.

Tung oil occurs naturally in seeds of the chinese tung tree. Because the tung oil is absorbed into the wood you aren t chipping or scratching a finish so it s not as noticeable to begin with. Tung oil hardens more over time so your finish will only get better. Pure tung oil oil varnish blends and wiping varnish.

It is clear quick drying and penetrates the grain to enhance and protect the. Boiled linseed oil is common as a wood finish but contains some potentially hazardous drying compounds. Rub on a generous portion of thinned tung oil in an out of the way area. He advised us tung oil would be better than urethane because we have dogs and the scratches their nails leave and i clip the nails regularly i m a dog groomer could be erased by rubbing the scratch with a cloth dipped in tung oil.

You will want to let the wood sit between coats ideally 24 hours but i have reapplied after 2 hours. When the installer installed our oak hardwood floor he put several coats of tung oil on it. Pure and non toxic with quick drying times. Penetrating oils there are several types but tung oil is the most common soak into the wood s pores.

Penetrating tung oil finishes come in three varieties. The beauty of finishing floors with tung oil is that those scratches and dents seem to recede into the imperfections and variations of the wood.