New external front door

[George]

Stained with Coloron wood dye(the proper way to stain wood) however I dont wish to varnish over it so will waxing the door over a few times protect it from the weather elments?

TIA

[EricP]

Yes but it must be done regularly every few months to maintain the coat of wax. Also wax combines with dust to produce a dirty coat, so you have to buff it up very regularly. Better to use an oil like teak oil on it.

[George]

sinking my boat MrPke teak

Thanks for sinking my boat MrP :-P

I had a blonde moment if I did wax it? would mean it cant be painted over in the future. doh!

[Andy Hall]

An oil and wax would be better because it will penetrate the wood more effectively. I personally think that it's a sacrilege to varnish a good quality hardwood, especially with a gloss varnish - one might as well have installed PVC. Ergo, I've done the stain, oil, wax treatment on my oak entrance doors. Initial treatment is three coats of oil and wax 24hrs apart. Apply with a brush and wipe off excess after about 10 minutes. Don't flood the wood.

The only minor issue is that it does need attention at least every six months - in an exposed position to sun or rain, possibly every 4. The grime should be cleaned off using a cloth dampened in warm detergent and water and wrung out. Then rinse. Don't be tempted to use white spirit since that is a solvent for the oil and wax preparations and will tend to cause the grime to soak into the wood.

Then you can give the door two coats of oil and wax. The whole exercise can be completed for a door in half an hour, tops, so it's not a huge burden.

This product is particularly good

use it for interior oak joinery as well. It's relatively expensive at around £45 for 5 litres last time I bought some, but it goes a very long way. That quantity lasts me for 2 years for exterior doors, interior doors, staircase and floors in two rooms.

[Andy Hall]

Why ever would you want to paint it?

[EricP]

Wash it down with turps/substitute to remove surface wax and use an oil based paint. But it would be doing a disservice to the door, and might not take well..

[Stuart Noble]

One wonders what a "natural", "hard wax oil" might consist of, since hard waxes are all but insoluble at room temperature.

[George]

Do Screwfix sell the exterior door weather strips? I'll be damned if I can find them on their site.

George

[Pete C]

Hi,

You may find the Colron dye fades as it's not pigment based.

Maybe best to use oil and see how things go for now, if the door gets direct sun an oil with UV absorbers would be best.

cheers, Pete.

[stuart_noblenospam]

In answer to my own post....... "Key ingredients in Hardwax Oil include sunflower, soybean and thistle oil, plus two hard, natural waxes, carnauba and candelilla"

which sounds like a dog's dinner. The oils are non-drying and the waxes insoluble. I don't think I'd want that particular combination of natural ingredients on my woodwork

[Andy Hall]

The term actually covers a range of possible preparations. Most likely, it is carnauba wax in this case. In any event, the waxes certainly are soluble and they are drying as well.

[Stuart Noble]

In any event, the waxes

"Carnauba wax is typical of the hard waxes that have the highest melting points among waxes of plant origin. It is soluble in chloroform,ether and petroleum benzene when hot, but only sparingly soluble when it is cold". i.e. to all intents and purposes it is insoluble at room temperature.

For wood finishing it's a question of whether the *oils* are of the "drying" type. At best these are "semi-drying", which means they solidify to a degree over time, but never fully dry the way tung or linseed does.

[Andy Hall]

Obviously.

This product also contains linseed oil and turpentine..... It is certainly drying and does a good job.

[Stuart Noble]

It doesn't seem to be obvious to the makers of Osmo Polyx Oil (Hardwax Oil), whose product is based on 3 non-drying oils (and 2 insoluble waxes). Call me a cynic but I think they forgot to mention "snake" in their list of ingredients