Please help me avoid turning an oak floor orange

[KatyNana]

I have a solid oak floor which I'm going to get sanded as I don't like the current stain.

I like the natural colour of the oak, but the contractor has said the protective varnish will make it go a darker and more orange colour - nope.

How do I keep the pale, natural, matt oak but also protect it?

A light stain? An oil? A different varnish?

Must stand up to small kids and a busy house.

You need an invisible oil or invisible lacquer.

Osmo Polyx Raw, is a natural hard wax oil with a subtle white tint. It lightens the wood and stops it going orange over time. It's very hard wearing and looks natural.

It's much harder to apply to oak compared to pine. Definitely worth using a natural bristle broom brush.

The below are very helpful if you call.

www.wood-finishes-direct.com/product/osmo-polyx-oil-raw-3044?gclid=Cj0KCQjw6s2IBhCnARIsAP8RfAg2cORNzWIJleE19aq8Iu8WGMH3fcTTxHE9JZZ8TJ5hSr74AFJ0JD4aArtcEALw_wcB

Should add, trades aren't keen because it takes a day to dry and needs 2 coats. They like water-based varnish and fan heaters so they can get 2 coats done in half a day.

Osmo products are great. I used their top oil on my wooden work surfaces and they looked tip top for 15 years (and longer I imagine - but I sold the house).

We’ve just redone our oak floor - around 70m2. It took us 3 evenings of sanding and created 3 binbags of dust!!! Then we used Osmo polyx raw 3044 - 2 coats with 24 hours drying time between each one. We’d used floor varnish about 7 years ago and it had gone orange with lots of scuff marks. Huge improvement!!

We hired floor sander and edger from HSS and they were really helpful when we needed an extra evening. We used 40 grit to get the varnish off then moved to 120 grit to finish.

We used Oak Flooring Direct for accessories and they even called to double check my order as I had some items that might not necessarily work together but our flooring levels needed them.

oakflooringdirect.co.uk/

Photo of the lounge before and after - also did the hallway which is a pig to do because of all the doorways!!!

osmouk.com/product/polyx-oil-effect-raw/

Osmo polyx oil we used the clear throughout downstairs on our original floor and it looks lovely and not shiny, you also don't need to sand it back when it needs topping up like you do varnish. Ours has been done five years and I'm considering a top up coat before the end of summer, mainly in the dining room where people scrape their chairs back 🙄 definitely worth getting their broom type brush on a long stick, very easy to apply.

Thanks so much, it sounds like osmo oil is the way to go to avoid tangerine floors.
Those who have used it, does it stand up to spilled water, mud, chairs, kids etc?

If I need to touch it up can I do that in just one area or does it look odd and patchy?

Unfortunately the ageing colour is more about the type of oak used rather than the finish. UV light will eventually turn most oak orange. Keeping the light off it is the only way... not very practical. Some finishes help. The only real answer is to use French oak, which tends to remain straw coloured, although it too will darken over time.

We have Osmo as well on a 1930s oak parquet, it’s great. I don’t agree with the last poster that it will darken with UV light - ours is darker under the rug where no light has got it (to the right of this picture) and lighter around (left of the pic). This was done about 4 years ago, hasn’t had anything done to it since and is wearing well.

We used Bona traffic and it hasn’t gone orange, especially not on the oak. We used ultra Matt and it’s beautiful. Second house now that we’ve done the same.

In the 1930's they would have used well aged 'old' oak which had already reached it's final colour. This will then bleach in daylight. Most modern recently purchased flooring will be from fast grown sustainable forest, be realtively young and far from reaching it's final seasoned colour and therefore be lighter under carpets, furniture etc. You can't really compare the reaction of 100 year old wood floor with a relatively recently laid one.

Osmo is great. They sell their own brushes, which make applying the right amount quick and easy. You can get an extension pole, then scrubb it on like with a broom. Osmo sells a maintenance and refresh kit, so to maintain the water repellant seal, use their floor soap whenever you wash the floors. It's easy to patch up, too. You can get it in matt, satin or gloss, or tinted. You should always test it first, either on a small patch of your floor or better buy a floorboard similar to yours and try different finishes. You can mix the oils, so if you want just a bit of sheen,mix matt and satin, or mix clear and a cup of white osmo for an ever so slight whitewash effect, or with a tiny bit of dark tinted oil for an antique effect and to ward off any orange.