I am currently stripping and sanding my bathroom floor for varnishing. I was wondering, to be nice to my floor, and bring out the colour, should I give it a few coats of boiled linseed and white spirit before varnishing? Any one done this before?
Thanks in advance
James
No! The oil will stop the varnish from taking to the wood. If you *just* want to oil (and not varnish) it, it would probably be ok.
The only problem witth oil is that it does show water marks, so not a good choice for a bathroom floor. It is easy to correct with more oil, but tedious.
.andy
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Both of those replies are correct.
In the olden days - not centuries ago but, say, one century ago, polishing floors was a badge of honour. The fact that it had to be done repeatedly is a mark of its lack of effectiveness.
Varnish of any kind 'brings out' the colour of the timber almost as well as oil or polish, is easier to apply and lasts longer.
I make a beeswax polish which is said to be 'marvellous' by those who use it. I don't use it. When I'm asked what the best thing for furniture and floors is I say Polyurethane. They still buy my polish - and have to expend a lot of energy in getting the (adittedly beautiful) sheen on their woodware.
But I have a lot more time to myself ...
It comes down to your priorities.
By the way, for very old, precious or valuable furniture which isn't handled, touched or prone to any contact with Real Life I'd say that beeswax polish is the best treatment. But that certainly wouldn't apply to a bathroom floor.
Mary
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Some good replies. If you really want to use an oil rather than a varnish, use Os Color (correct spelling) which is a mix of oils and gives a truly stunning finish. I'm doing 3 floors this afternoon with it.
Bit expensive though.
HTH Rob
Raw linseed oil plus real turpentine half/half. Smells nicer than turps. Slow to dry - easy to apply but needs several goes - say last thing at night and leave CH on. When dry is very durable, very water resistant, looks nice, less scratchable than varnish. Once first app is dry any later apps dry much quicker. Easily revived with further applications if necessary. This was the most used finish, used for fine hardwood too - before french polish came along as a quick cheapo inferior alternative. Having said that you could try Danish oil - quick to dry and very durable/water resistant
cheers
Jacob
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