Vermont Plank Flooring

Wood Floor Finishes

OSMO Hardwax Oil

• A clear, satin matte floor finish rich in natural vegetable oils and waxes.
• Our favorite finish for wood and cork floors. Also suitable for furniture, wood trim, cabinets and unglazed tile such as terra cotta.
• As durable as polyurethane and far easier to fix when it's scratched or worn down.
• For indoor use only.
  
• Unlike polyurethane, Osmo floors can be spot repaired, saving time and money. See more information on how Osmo Hardwax Oil saves money and time while also providing a superior aesthetic.

Pricing

Because it is microporous, Hardwax Oil works well in rooms with high humidity, such as kitchens. It meets German standards for resistance to stains from wine, cola, coffee, tea, fruit juice and, of course, beer.

Spot repairs are easy. There's no need to strip the whole floor or even to remove old Hardwax Oil. For minor repairs, just scuff the damaged area with fine steel wool, coat with Osmo Liquid Wax Cleaner and buff lightly when the cleaner is dry. If a more extensive fix is needed, use Hardwax Oil. Make repairs regularly, and the finish will last indefinitely.

This product provides no protection against ultraviolet rays from the sun, so it is not suitable for outdoor use.

Ingredients
Key ingredients in Hardwax Oil include sunflower, soybean and thistle oil, plus two hard, natural waxes - carnauba and candelilla. A Brazilian palm tree, Copernica cerifera, produces the carnauba in its leaves, berries and stalks. Villagers cut down fronds, dry them for several days, and then beat off the wax. The candelilla comes from the outer coating on a desert shrub, Euphorbia antisyphiliti, that grows in northern Mexico. Farmers boil the leaves and stems with water and acid to release the wax. This is an oil-based product. Like most finishes - even water-based ones - it needs a solvent to perform properly. OSMO uses the safest one that works with oil-based finishes: benzene-free, low-odor mineral spirits. This is an aliphatic petroleum distillate, which means it is a petroleum product that has its carbon atoms arranged in open chains instead of rings. The more toxic, aromatic or ring hydrocarbons have been removed, resulting in a milder odor.

Benefits of OSMO Hardwax Oil
Practical benefits include:

• Preserves the look and feel of real wood- not a plastic coating.
• Easy to apply- just two thin coats.
• Will not raise the grain when applied. Therefore no need to sand between coats.
• Thixotropic- no brush marks in hot weather.
• Penetrates into the wood surface, keeping it elastic but making it water-resistant. Finished wood won't show water stains.
• Easy to clean- just vacuum and damp-mop.

Environmental benefits include:

• Made mostly from readily renewable, natural ingredients.
• Extremely durable- keeps existing flooring in good shape for decades.
• When dry, meets European safety standards for use on children's furniture and toys and resistance to perspiration and saliva.
• Contains no biocides or preservatives, only aliphatic low-odor mineral spirits that meet the German standard for purity.

How much do I need?
On newly sanded floors, one liter covers about 200 to 250 square feet per coat. (Use two coats.) To recoat floors previously finished with this product, spread one liter over 250 square feet.

How to use this product.
For cork floors: Cork requires a special procedure because it is so porous.

• Apply a very thin coat, using a broad metal scraper like a squeegee to spread the finish as much as possible. The cork will immediately absorb all of the finish.
• Let it dry for at least 24 hours- 48 is better. Ensure good ventilation.
• Apply the second coat with a plastic foam roller. With a clean cloth, immediately wipe up any excess. On installed floors, be extra careful to make sure finish doesn't puddle along seams.· Again let the finish dry for at least 24 hours, 48 if possible, with good ventilation

For spot repairs:

• Sand off scratches or other damage. On wood, start with 80-grit sandpaper on deep gouges and finish with 100-grit. On cork, use 100-grit only. Vacuum away dust.
• Wipe on a small amount of Hardwax Oil. Do not allow to puddle, and allow it to dry for 24 to 48 hours with good ventilation.
• Buff with extra-fine steel wool or a 3M Scotch Brite white pad to blend the edges of the patch into the surrounding finish.

Cleanup
Clean brushes with the benzene-free Osmo Brush Cleaner or mineral spirits.

Storage
Can be stored for five years or longer. Frostproof.

Safety
Low-odor mineral spirits are among the safest solvents of their type. But in sufficient quantities, they can affect the central nervous system and cause serious health problems. Ensure adequate ventilation during application and while this finish dries. For additional protection, wear a well-fitting respirator with organic-vapor cartridges.

Benefits of Osmo versus Polyurethane

Plastic floor finishes such as polyurethane have become so standard in the United States that many people are surprised to learn they have an option: a repairable floor finish, also known as a penetrating oil or wax finish. Instead of coating the floor with a film, as polyurethane does, these finishes penetrate into wood fibers and protect from within. When the finish wears-as all floor finishes eventually do-spot-repair is so easy that homeowners can keep the finish in good shape indefinitely.

The only problem with most oil and wax finishes is that they need frequent maintenance. Our OSMO Hardwax Oil is far more durable. Tests in Germany , where it is manufactured, showed it to be just as tough as polyurethane. Yet it is very definitely a repairable floor finish-with the added benefits of being natural, low-toxic and pleasant to use.

Why plastics are hard to touch up

Spot repairs on polyurethane are difficult for three reasons:

• These finishes don't bond chemically to previous layers, so touch-ups grip only where the surface has been thoroughly scuffed. But if you attempt to scuff up a spot with sandpaper and then paint fresh finish over the area, you discover the problem: Inevitably, the dried repair shows.
• Particularly with oil-based polyurethane, which gives wood a rich amber tint, color-matching can be difficult.
• The sheen of a patch will differ from that of the surrounding floor, unless the repair is done while the surrounding finish is still relatively new. The problem is that polyurethane looses gloss with heavy wear, and no amount of buffing will restore the sheen to the same level that will show on the patch.

OSMO Hardwax Oil, on the other hand, can be buffed repeatedly to its original luster. Wear spots treated with our Liquid Wax Cleaner buff well too. And when a fresh coat of finish does need to be applied, it's a simple process.

Why resanding is bad

With any floor, it's important to avoid letting the floor get in such sad shape that it must be totally refinished. Sanding grinds away wood. At best, most wood floors can be sanded six times before the nails poke out. Three or four sandings is typical. Some floors get only two. Then the remaining wood needs to be ripped up and replaced.

With polyurethane finishes, the trick is to apply a fresh coat as soon as the old finish dulls. At that point, the old finish can be thoroughly screened (scratched up with an abrasive pad mounted on a machine) and recoated with another layer of plastic. If this job is delayed until the finish wears off in spots, however, it won't work. Then it will be necessary to sand off all the finish and some of the wood and start over. Unfortunately, screening and recoating can't be done unless all the furniture is moved out, and the job usually means calling in professional help. So many families delay the task-and the life of their wood floors is shortened as a result.

See how costs compare

We went to Tom Salisbury of Salisbury Hardwood Floors on Bainbridge Island , a top-notch floor finisher familiar with OSMO Hardwax Oil and most other floor finishes. We asked him to compare the costs of finishes over time. The figures below are typical costs, pulled from his actual bids on insurance jobs. Not surprisingly, people tend to move furniture out on their own when they're paying the bills directly; they hire the work done when an insurance company pays. Either way, we think it's a chore best avoided!

 We priced water-based polyurethane from Home Depot, just to underscore our point.

 You save $6,198!! And this is just the beginning!

• Skip the mess.
• Skip the hassle.
• Preserve your wood floors.
  
  
  

Examples of Osmo in Use

Boutique in New York	Presidential Palace, Bratislav, Slovakia

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