Waterlox alternative?

[Patrick Neil North]

Hi all,
I’m not much of a woodworker, so I hope you can help.
In the coming months I’ll be finishing some new quartersawn oak flooring. We plan to stain the floor. Until recently I had considered using Waterlox for the following reasons:
· Much prefer a “hardwax oil” type floor finish to poly, for aesthetics (figure enhancing, low sheen) and ease of spot repairs
· Relatively forgiving to apply
· Relative durability/ water resistance compared to my understanding/experience with straight up boiled linseed oil, Danish oil, etc.

The problem? My daughter has a severe nut allergy, so tung oil is out. Yes, I know that after it has cured the possibility of a reaction of small, but it’s just not worth it.
Most of the hardwax oil type products I’ve seen on the ‘net either include tung oil or are vague on ingredients. Others seem so focused on presenting a “green” product that they make little mention of durability or practicality.
Can you all recommend a product, series of products, or home made recipe/procedure with a similar look and attributes? I’d appreciate specifics! I should note a (probably unfair) bias against boiled linseed oil as I’ve had a few run ins with gummy or musty smelling BLO finishes. The flooring extends into our bedroom so a decade of off-gassing just isn’t an option. That said, I know all BLO products are not created equal and am open to the possibility.

Many thanks for any guidance you can offer.
Patrick

[Jim Becker]

Waterlox is a varnish, I'm not sure what you mean by "hard wax oil". There is no "tung oil" in it after it's cooked into varnish. Same goes for other varnishes (including polyurethane varnishes) that use BLO in their formulas. The nut allergy shouldn't hold concern because there are no "nuts" (outside of the installers... ) involved.

Temporary off-gassing is going to be a factor with any oil based finish. You normally don't notice it after the finish cures, but in small, closed up areas, it would be similar to someone (accidentally) using an oil based finish on the interior of a piece of furniture. That seems to concentrate any odor. We recently had close to 3000 sq ft of flooring finished with three coats of an oil-based urethane floor finish (older high VOC formula supplied in quarts even...). Outside of the first few days after coating, there is zero perceptible odor in our home and we would be concerned if there was due to our birds. Even the small closets, because they are not really completely closed off exhibit zero finish odor.

[Patrick Neil North]

I don't really follow- if it contains tung oil as advertised (I know some finishes are really just "tung oil-like" and contain no actual tung oil), how can it be "cooked out?"
Thanks,
Patrick

[Conrad Fiore]

Jim,
There is "real" tung oil in Waterlox. Don't know if cooking will change the chemical structure of the tung oil so that it is not an allergen to those sensitive to nuts, but I would bet that if you took peanut oil and brought it up to just below flash point for 24 hours it would still be a problem for certain people. Some people allergic to nuts can have a reaction just being downwind of the source.

[Prashun Patel]

If you really like Waterlox, you should contact the mfg and find out if their product is safe to be used by people with severe nut allergies. You should also get it in writing. I'm a fragrance manufacturer and we get that kind of request all the time.

As far as a substitute, I know Waterlox is a phenolic resin, so you can probably use a phenolic resin varnish. But 'ease' of application will depend on the amount of oil and spirits/solvent you mix it with. There's a million recipies for that.

Sure you don't want to poly the floor?

[Steve Schoene]

I'd check with the manufacturer about the nut allergy, as was suggested. The reason people say their is no tung oil is that while tung is an ingredient, it has undergone a chemical reaction with the resin to create the varnish, more than "cooking".

A close substitute, with linseed oil and phenolic resin as the ingredients is Behlen Rockhard. You can thin to what ever degree you wish if you want a wipe-on consistency like Waterlox O/S. This is a very good varnish, too.

[Patrick Neil North]

As for allergic reactions to tung oil, the party line I've heard has been "assume it could cause an allergic reaction." Can't blame them if this is overstating the possibility (people are so sue happy), but neither am I inclined to doubt them.
The Rockhard product looks very durable, but I was hoping to find something lower luster.
Thanks all,
Patrick

[Jim Becker]

There is "real" tung oil in Waterlox..

I did not say that tung oil was not an ingredient--it and phenolic resins are the primary ingredients in Waterlox. But when varnish is manufactured, all the ingredients undergo a chemical reaction together to create a new substance. The tung oil ceases to exist as raw tung oil. This is not like in food products where ingredients impart flavor, texture and other characteristics to a recipe, yet retain the risks inherent in the original ingredient. There is no chemical reaction in that case.

But this is getting major technical. If there is concern, contacting the manufacturer of the product regarding the issue is the safe and expedient way to "be sure" on this factor, especially if someone's life could be in danger from a particular allergy.

[Howard Acheson]

Why not just use a waterborne acrylic/poly floor finish?

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

FABULON It is fabulous for floors.

[Scott Holmes]

Waterlox is MADE with tung oil there is no longer any tung oil in it; it's varnish. Akin to saying that your bread is yeast or flour or eggs.

[Patrick Neil North]

Well, I’m no wood finishing expert, but I’m unfortunately well versed with dealing with allergies. Folks with nut allergies are known to (sometimes) react to products with tung oil, period. “Cooking” an allergen can sometimes denature the protein and lessen its allergenic qualities, but not by much. I know of no case where mixing an allergen with other ingredients renders the allergen non-allergenic. In any case, tung oil is out for me.
Out, too, is a poly finish.

I’m looking for what I’d call a “reparable” finish- a varnish/shellac that can be touched up if need be (stray scratches or wear marks) with relative ease. Because the floor will be quartersawn oak, I want to accentuate the grain, and in this respect I especially like a finish that penetrates (like tung oil, unfortunately). Finally, I’m looking for low luster. Beyond just a “flat” finish, I prefer a nicely buffed wax finish on hardwood floors to the sheet-of-plastic look of surface finishes. “Satin” surface finishes seem more like a haze, to me. (Wish I could describe this better- I just don’t have the vocabulary!) Of course durability is important, but this will be a low traffic bedroom area.

So, BLO then shellac? Shellac spit coat and paste wax? Grape Kool-Ade with a Zippo fluid topcoat? Thoughts or suggestions?

Thanks for the input!

Patrick

[Jim Becker]

With those limitations, BLO to color the wood followed by shellac is certainly a viable finish, but shellac is inherently gloss. It's not going to hold up to wear very well, however. Shellac is "hard" and scratches easily, albeit is very easily fixable. So if it were me, I'd do the BLO, an application of de-waxed shellac and a water borne floor finish. You could also use any interior oil based alkyd varnish that is formulated with either BLO or soya oil as the base. Again, it will not have the abrasion resistance of a polyurethane varnish (which was designed for floors).

I leave you with these pictures which are of the 11" wide antique pumpkin pine in our great room, recently refinished as part of our addition project. The finish is three coats of Lenmar oil based polyurethane (professionally applied by hand) in a satin luster. I hate poly personally, but will tell you that there is no plastic look to this floor or I wouldn't have accepted the work since that was a requirement. (Pictures are prior to repainting the room)

Outside of that, you may want to discuss the situation with a floor finishing professional in your area to see what other alternatives you have.

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