experienced tung oil users, help

19 years ago

We moved into our new construction home in June. We put in Eastern white pine floors (one room has walnut) and put a "transparent tung oil" on it that was recommended by the flooring people. I told them I wanted a matte finish, but somehow I was convinced that the "transparent " oil would dull down after mopping. I fell for it. Now, after daily wear and tear and a new puppy, the floor looks like it's 30 years old and in need of major overhaul. The idea that rubbing tung oil over scratches and buffing them in has not worked at all. I believe part of the issue is that the glare from the daylight reflects every flaw.

After talking to the flooring people, they now say a matte finish would help. Gee , thanks. Lesson: always listen to your gut, not the "professionals." Has anyone used the matte tung oil and can you see a lot of scratches with the glare of daylight coming through the windows? Would it be worth it to me to move ALL my furniture and redo all my rooms. PS My downstairs is an open floorplan, so we're talking a huge area at once.

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Comments (6)

mondragon
19 years ago
First question is what's actually on your floor now. Pure tung oil doesn't leave anything on the surface, and there are products like Waterlox - which is a mix of resins and pure tung oil - and then there are products like Formby's that's a "Tung Oil Finish" that doesn't contain any tung oil at all.

I've used Waterlox satin on a kitchen/dining table that gets a lot of use, but it's not a thick layer on top of the wood so you see the wood grain more than you see the Waterlox. It gets scrubbed daily and pretty much looks like it did a couple of months ago. And when I want to, I can apply more Waterlox without sanding.

Just a datapoint....
pharaoh
19 years ago
i have used waterlox. it is great finish and very easy to repair when scratched.
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lbelle
Original Author
19 years ago
I have a shiny (ish) tung oil on it now. I'm looking to tone down the glare, hoping to camoflage (sp?) the thousands of scratches from the dog and other things. Those who have a satin or dull finish, does it glare much?
perel
19 years ago
You need to find out the actual name of the finish used. Even if it was called a "tung oil" finish, it might or might not even be tung oil based.
lbelle
Original Author
19 years ago
It's the Carlisle brand. They say it's waterlox with some of their own hardening agents in it. They said I should try Waterlox Satin to try to tone the shine down. No polyurethane involved. They said I could put more tung oil over it. I just want to know if the finish I have will really dull down, or if the satin tung oil will really help the scratches be less noticable.
mondragon
19 years ago
On the waterlox site they have instructions about how to achieve different gloss levels (which they also note are subjective.) There they say to use two coats of the satin over one or two coats of the Original (which is glossier) so it sounds like you're in luck.

There a lot of photos on the site so you should get an idea of what it looks like.

This is my table with just a few coats of the satin:

It looks more reflective here than it appears in real life.

Is there any way you can get a sample of the wood with the current finish on it that you can scratch up and then test with the satin? I think it's probably what you're looking for but before you start such a big job...

Here is a link that might be useful: Waterlox website