This is my bathroom floor before putting on the natural wood oil recipe I made - the wood is kiln dried hickory planks that were locally milled and deeply on sale...
If ya need the wood oil recipe, click HERE for Part 1 I posted earlier today---> cause this now is Part 2, and all it is about is my extreme excitement and OCD about how I could not stop putting this amazing wood oil mixture on everything in my house! I couldn't stop cause not only did it smell delicious but it also looked beautiful (I mean, don't oily wet lookin' floors always look so good?!)
Armed with a pot of the natural wood oil and a organic cotton rag I was ready to start rubbing it in. During this process I thought possibly one of those sponge mops would be alot quicker, and at least a good buffer for after the oil is put on....But I did this by hand, totally Mr Miyagi style "wax on wax off danial son!"
In my bathroom I laid it on extra thick and waxy because I didn't want the water from the tub or sink to penetrate the floor - you can see in the pic below the difference between the finished wood and the unfinished dry wood. The oil brings out all the wood's character, grain and color, artistically speaking just that look is worth all the effort.
Once I got finished the bathroom, I was on a roll! I put on some more of the mixture to be heated up (walnut oil, salt, bees wax, apple cider vinegar) and then It WaS ON !!!
I went right out the bathroom 'door' (i haven't got around to putting up my door yet), and proceeded to oil the kitchen floor too.
Then the OCD my mother instilled in me (AKA- don't ever quit in the middle of a project or activity) kept me going right out into my living room...
And going......... (like, who could stop when it's looking that good and the fear of it drying totally uneven kinda haunts your inner wanna be perfectionist!)
Eventually I made it across the entire house and let myself off the hook, to do my bedroom tomorrow instead. The hardest part of this project was moving stuff on the floor outta the way and the thought of moving the sofa I sleep on made me rather go cook dinna' instead.The oiling part, though = majorly fun to watch, a little like magic. ;)
XoxoxoX
Looks great, hickory is a wood with a lot of character.
ReplyDeleteThat looks fantastic. I'm glad to see things working out so well for you.
ReplyDeletei had a thought on a more eco-friendly buffing material, loofahs. you could probably use it as an applicator also, if you balled it up tight and tied with some string.
ReplyDeletedo you have any sensitivity to boiled linseed or tung oil? some linseed oil brands are actually raw with chemical additives to make it dry, so you'd have to check.
walnut oil doesn't dry hard like tung and linseed oils. if you don't have any reactions to either i would use it on areas that will get wet more often, like counter tops and around your tub.
it also produces a little bit shinier surface and you don't need to mix or heat anything.
Hey Erik - Thanks bunches, I love hickory, and i got the character/rustic grade hoping it would have alot of funky variations like it does :) yay!
ReplyDeleteLou Cheese- Danka! I thought it looked good too, and i finished my bedroom this morning.
Panne - I have heard linseed and tung oils are best for this kind of project, but like you said there are commonly chemical additives and the smell it not yummy, but somewhat more repugnant to me (of the linseed). I was trying to stick to things that are most food grade also (like if my cat started licking the floor it would be ok...)
Back in the day i did raw sunflower and soy oil - raw does not work on this kind of thing, cause it totally molded in the cracks of the floor of the room i tested it in. I later used those oils mixed with vinegar, salt, lemon, and boiled the hell out of them - then applied it to a wooden butcher block table. That one took just fine and didn't mold, the finish lasted a couple of years which was impressive because the wood was not absorbent and I did not use any wax.
The wax in this mixture i am hoping will help in the areas like the kitchen counter and bathroom floor (places i put lots of extra coatings too) - for me personally i am mostly concerned with not rotting the wood with water damage or having major mold issues... and less about a perfect looking stain.
So far it is absorbing into the floor and getting a darker nicer looking patina as time is passing. Water seems to only bead up on top it, which i assume is more from the wax.
I forgot to mention I spent about $50 on all the materials to do my kitchen counter and all the floors in my house (a little under 500 SqFt) - and i still have more then half the oil and wax left enough to do another house my size.
Cool, I'll be seeing you up here in a few weeks to do my floors then.
ReplyDeleteErik! ha! are you doing the floors of your Smoghot house on wheels or the cabin?
ReplyDeleteEither way, what are the floors in your Smoghut gonna be?
The interior wood will be ash, everything except the bathroom (which is diamondplate steel from floor-to-celining).
ReplyDeletePhotos from the mill:
http://www.mainahardwoods.com/images/Web_Ash_Flooring_450c.jpg
http://www.mainahardwoods.com/images/AshWall_Light.jpg
Your wood floors are so beautiful!
ReplyDeleteCheryl