Finishing Wood Floors With Danish Oil

How to apply danish oil on wooden floors.

Finishing wood floors with danish oil. Similarly to mineral oil the term danish oil can apply to many different substances. Danish oil can intensify the colors in woods with rich grain patterns making the variations in the wood stand out. Penetrating oil lends the wood a more natural appearance than polyurethane. The first step to obtaining a good finish is to smooth the surface well prior to applying the danish oil finish.

Apply the finish with a lamb s wool applicator in smooth even lines while avoiding drips. Danish oil is a popular wood finish and it s basically a mixture of an oil a varnish and a thinner. Aesthetically many people find that penetrating oils offer the most natural look for hardwood floors. Not every wood project benefits from a coat varnish or a polyurethane finish.

Danish oil is a mixture of tung oil and varnish which though considered a penetrating oil sealer has many different properties from natural and hard wax oil finishes. This is because the oil becomes part of the wood itself. A natural glow one of the outstanding qualities of natural oil and though to a slightly lesser degree hard wax oil finishes is their ability to enhance the natural. One aspect of unfinished wood is that the natural material will readily soak up water and other liquids which leads to stains as well as eventual rot.

Follow these steps when applying the finish. Consider three coats of oil based finish or four coats of water based finish. Start by scraping it with a cabinet scraper and then finishing with a card scraper. Oil finished floors are excellent for bringing out the natural beauty of your selected wood specie.

Unlike poly finished floors oiled floors are very easy to repair if damage is done. Next sand with the grain using 220 and 320 grit sandpaper. Danish oil is a super common finish among woodworkers although it isn t clearly defined. Popular wood oils include danish oil teak oil tung oil cedar oil ipe oil and mineral oil for wood.

When scratches occur on oiled floors you can buff and blend them away very easily without removing the furnishings. Penetrating oils also avoid the plasticky look of polyurethane finishes. In fact the ambiguity with danish oil is even more severe. The term danish oil is basically a catch all term for any oil based wood finish.