Stripped old pine floorboards

[marvelus]

He probably meant water based acrylic. Anything water based will bring up the grain on pine, it wont be totaly smooth but more 'rustic' looking.

[Stuart Noble]

The foam is what prevents the dirt from a carpet soaking further into it and taking ages to dry

You then mop it off and

[Stephen]

Just to say thanks to all who replied to my initial question.

In retrospect I dont think the floorboards look too bad now theyve been sanded. Not all the "character" has been sanded out of them and they still look fairly dark.

However, where I had to replace boards with reclaimed old pine boards, they are somewhat lighter than the others (becuase they were thicker boards I had to sand more from them).

Can anyone recommend the best wood stain or wood dye (whats the difference) to match the "new" boards to my originals?

Is Colron any good? I was looking at Colron Refined Antique Pine wood dye in B&Q the other day.

[Stuart Noble]

I'd steer clear of Colron. IME anything other than light oak has a habit of ending up way too dark. In fact, I wouldn't stain at all until I'd wiped a section with white spirit and viewed it in the evening under artificial light. That shows you how it would look with a clear varnish, and you usually find there's more colour there than you thought

[Stephen]

Its really difficult to know what to do. ;-)

I managed to get some vandyke crystals and tested a weak solution on the reclaimed boards and also tested a little on my original boards. It looks terrible on the old boards as it has soaked up at different rates and looks blotchy (especially round the knots). On the reclaimed boards it looks a little too orange but that might chnage as it dries off.

I think i will just go with the clear varnish...

[Stephen]

Ah. Just had another look and as it dries off its a much more subtle change. It might just do the trick. All the blotchiness on the old boards has disappeared

[visionset]

Very sensible. Keep it honest (and practical). I've just stripped an oak table of a dark varnish, looks fantastic now. Clear polyurethane is going on. Yes wax looks great, but I live in the real world...

[Stuart Noble]

It's a powerful colour, so you need to measure accurately. I find a 1% solution plenty strong enough for this type of application, even 0.5% if you're toshing it on liberally. Some people prefer to add a dash of ammonia or washing soda to aid penetration. As I said, don't make any colour decisions during the day. Pretty much any stain looks good in strong natural light. Fading or artificial light is another matter.

[Stephen]

It looks very dark when it goes on but now its dry its almost invisible.

I think I got my measures wrong. I measured 0.25 grams into 250ml water.

I guess it should be 2.5 grams to 250ml water.