OSMO - none of the swatches look good 😑

[Sabee]

Hello,

We have decided to use OSMO oil for our recently sanded original pine floors.

Swatched a few on the floor, but none of them stand out.

The raw makes the pine look light - I’m not keen as that’s not the look we’re going for (even though we are having walls etc in loft white). Additionally, I’m feeling nervous of a white tint over the darker areas.

The farthest left is clear Matt. Then raw. Then white. Then amber. Then honey.

I’m thinking I have to embrace the yellow look?

Hmmmm

I think the middle one (white?) is the most neutral/least yellowy looking.
But i don't think it's clear what look you're going for, exactly. When you say none stand out do you mean you want a bolder look than in the swatches?

Sorry, I meant I didn’t love any of them.

I love having bits of antique furniture, mixed with contemporary furnishings - I’m not sure how a very neutral floor would look like?

In my head, I wanted something oaky maybe, and was open to going darker (redder rather than brown) but don’t want it looking old-fashioned either?

I guess I was open, but I didn’t feel anything.

😐

I like the second one. If you are oiling pine it isn’t going to look like oak though. Even if you put an oak coloured tint on it you are still tinting pine. I would look at the one you like best in terms of overall colour which will darken and look stronger over time and a large area anyway and embrace it. They are lovely, just go with what you’ve got 😊

I much prefer the middle sample.

We used the clear matt on our old faded oak floorboards in the hall, we didn't sand them though just painted on a couple of coats, it went on really well. I must confess that we only did the bits that show though as we always use a runner in the hall and it meant we could walk up the middle while it dried. Only get the size tin you need though as I don't think it keeps too well once opened, iirc it said to use within a certain time.

I prefer the middle one or the darker one next to it.
It will look fine with your furniture. Your samples are tiny. Please no red tones, that won't look good.

I had exactly this issue when oiling my decking! Nothing looked like it was supposed to - either too yellow or orange. I think it's also really hard to get a true idea of what it will look like from such a small patch. I'd say the last one looks oakyist

I had same dilemma and went for Fiddes Hard Wax oil in Whisky. Quite dark and not yellow at all

There are loads of reviews, questions and some customers photos on Amazon that might give you an idea of what it might look like and opinions of it.

Ok, so we tried the clear Matt.

I had wanted to go for the middle one but was v unsure how it would look on the darker areas of the floor.

I think out pine floor was bloody awful quality, and it now looks like a mess.

We are waiting till the morning to see if it changes (ha!).

Here’s a photo 😭

(It looks ‘nicer’ in the photo)

This is the other side of the room, we are leaving it as we mull things over.

The patches are spilled white spirit 😑

Let this be a lesson to anyone who in a gust of ‘let’s hit the shops before they close’ and ‘let me do it quickly this evening as I’ll do another coat tomorrow’ does things in haste.

Is the square in the middle shadow or has the oil ‘taken’ differently there? Let it settle and I think it might just need another coat or two. I know when we re-oiled a floor it looked a mess at first, patchy, but did improve with the above advice and time.

It’s been taken differently there… if I look at old photos of the house, there used to be rugs there - do am presuming it was something to do with that!

It’s the colour as well that I’m struggling with - not helping with the ongoing painting (or lack thereof!)

It might even out. The rugs will have protected it from sun and drying etc. The colour should mellow a bit too. It will look different again when your not just staring at the floor, with walls, furniture, accessories and so on to offset it. You’ve started now, keep going! I know it’s a headache though, have this - 🍷🍷