Wood - No Poly Please!
Ok I’ve got some wood issues 1) I just had my oak overmantle stripped and I am doing the finishing. I would like to keep the wood as light as possible and i dont want to finish it with Poly. 2) Recently I had a couple of coats of Poly put on my parlor floor….
Ok I’ve got some wood issues
1) I just had my oak overmantle stripped and I am doing the finishing. I would like to keep the wood as light as possible and i dont want to finish it with Poly.
2) Recently I had a couple of coats of Poly put on my parlor floor. The finish is semi-gloss and it looks like plastic to me. I hate it! Anything I can do? What are some other NON-poly wood floor finishes? 3) I just had a bench made for the farm table in my dining room and I am staining and sealing it. What is a good sealer that will stand up to some wear and tear and is NOT poly? Tung Oil? Anything else?
Thanks, Thanks, and Thanks!
I just polyurethaned my new floors and I feel the same way. Now they look (and smell) like a bowling alley to me.
My parents had hardwood floors when I was growing up and, if I remember correctly, they always waxed them instead. It required upkeep each year or two, but they had a gorgeous burnished look and stood up just fine to years and years with four kids and a dog. I wish now I’d gone down that route – I’d have had to ask specifically, because poly seems to be the assumption.
oil finishes are nice, but take more time. Try Sutherland Wells polymerized tung oils and stains.
There’s a great company called BioShield out in New Mexico that makes a line of durable, natural, non-toxic wood finishes. I put their Penetrating Oil #9 on my farm table and benches and it’s both durable and looks awesome. Wood sometimes just cries out to be nourished and enriched with and oil–esp reclaimed wood or any other wood with “character.” It brings out all the grain and natural textures as opposed to covering them up with a surface finish. I’ve been using their products for 10 years and they’re great–plus, they will assist you in choosing what’s appropriate for your situation.
I recently did my hardwood floors in Tung Oil in my living room b/c I, too, didn’t like the plastic look of the poly AND I was trying to go green. Sad thing is, they kinda always feel dirty and dingy. Dust tends to cling a bit more to this type of finish and they’re much harder to keep clean. It’s true what the other posters say, I can always go over it with a non gloss poly (as opposed to doing a tung oil over poly) but it’s kind of a drag–who wants to go through that headache all over again?
Have you contaced Environmental Construction Outfitters in the Bronx? They might have some options–esp if you’re looking for a green option.
I just did a kitchen counter with tung oil, and I love the way it looks. Very non-plastic-y, very warm. And non-toxic too!
And speaking of not being able to undo finishes, it’s not so easy to remove poly from a floor. Especially if a sealer was used before the finish coats — as it often is. I agree with the advice of other posters: just do a coat of flat poly on top of what you have. If you do decide to start over, you’ll need to sand or chemical remove all the existing coats of poly including the sealer before you can switch to an oil finish. An oil finish I’ve heard highly recommended (but haven’t used myself) is Waterlox.
Carrie writes: “The problem with saturating finishes is there’s no going back. It’s easy to remove shellac if you need to, but not, say, tung oil”
That’s just as true about the Minwax finish I recommended as it is about tung oil. The ADVANTAGE of saturated finishes is that they’re very durable and, if there is any damage they can easily be touched up, BUT you must be sure you like the look [I do], because you can’t un-do it.
satin finish looks really nice. i hate high gloss floors too.
I was going to say the same thing as Carrie regarding your floors. The semi gloss is more durable. Often, to increase floor finish durability, semigloss is used for the first two coats, then, if you want a satin finish, a final satin or matte coat is applied to tone down the sheen.
For the floor, I’d recommend putting a satin or flat coat of poly over what you’ve got now. It’ll make it look less plastic.
For the overmantle, I’d recommend unwaxed shellac. It’s easy to work with, nontoxic, and durable (not as durable as poly, of course). The woodwork in our 100+ house was all finished in shellac and it looks beautiful.
The problem with saturating finishes is there’s no going back. It’s easy to remove shellac if you need to, but not, say, tung oil.