A History of Hard Wax-Oil Finish
Hard Wax Oil finished wood flooring is featured in the Greystone, Old Town, Chateau, and Old Barn Collections. Hard-Wax Oil finish is an ALL NATURAL non-pollutant, non-toxic No-VOC, and we mean ZERO VOC, product with no biocides, no preservatives, and is lead-benzene free. It is produced from natural materials such as vegetable oil and natural waxes made from purified renewable natural raw resources. Its open grain structure allows the floor to breathe which has a regulatory effect on moisture ensuring a healthy room climate— keeping within the spirit of wood’s natural hydroscopic characteristics. The special features of this finish allow the oils to penetrate deeply into the wood pores to enhance, while the wax remains on the surface to maintain a beautiful natural matte finish and create a protective layer offering a resistant and lasting finish. In essence, the wax is bonded to the wood via the oil. By finishing the wood with Hard-Wax Oil the ultimate color of the floor will flourish and continue to enhance with time.
All things come full circle.
It has been a long-standing European, and even early American, tradition to use oils and wax to impregnate natural wood flooring surfaces. While this floor perhaps isn’t your father’s floor, it is in spirit with your Grandfather’s and Great-Grandfather’s yet improved with technology. So, once again people are realizing the benefits of natural oils and wax from the beauty it preserves to the convenience and ease of maintenance. Hard-Wax Oil finish is an all natural and non-pollutant, non-toxic, no-VOC product. It has the most environmentally friendly benefits as a wood finish and contributes to a healthy living environment as it is produced from natural materials, such as linseed oil and natural waxes made from purified rapidly renewable natural resources. Its open cell structure allows the floor to breathe which has a regulatory effect on moisture ensuring a healthy room climate. The unique attributes of our finish allow the oils to penetrate deeply into the grain of the wood. This accentuates the natural characteristics, while our wax remains on the surface—maintaining a beautiful natural matte finish and creating a protective layer offering a resistant and lasting finish. The finish is water repellent and does not watermark, will not crack, flake, peel, blister or panelize like polymerized (plastic looking) finishes. Hard-Wax Oil is stain-resistant against wine, beer, cola, coffee, tea, fruit juices and milk. The floor will flourish over time while the floor patinas. Maintaining the floor through the process of reapplication will partly retain its essence thereby making it quite easy to maintain.
Hard Wax Oil Compared to Other Factor Finished Wood Floors
In comparison to the most commonly used polymerized or "plastic" finishes today, such as ceramic and aluminum-oxide, Hard-Wax Oil is easily and readily repairable. This is true for spot repair of the entire floor. In contrast, "plastic" finishes are not spot-repairable, so in order to repair any damage to a "plastic" finished floor, it is necessary to completely sand down and refinish the floor, regardless of size. This means substantial expense and inconvenience. Hard-Wax Oil finish will penetrate deeply into the wood to enhance, while the wax remains on the surface to create a protective layer offering a resistant, lasting and readily reparable finish. Hard-Wax Oil is extremely water repellent and does not watermark, will not crack, flake, peel, or blister unlike a traditional polyurethane finish. "Plastic" finished floors need to be re-sanded approximately every 7-10 years. Re-sanding is not a concern when a floor is finished with Hard-Wax Oil. With proper maintenance using Maintenance Oils and Parquet Cleaner your floor will last a lifetime and will always maintain its genuine natural beauty and even enhance with time as the patina enriches itself with your self-maintenance.
What is VOC?
VOC is short for Volatile Organic Compounds. These are organic compounds with high enough vapor pressure under normal conditions to significantly vaporize and enter the atmosphere. Many VOCs are found around the house, such as the solvents used in wood preservatives, paint, varnishes and chemicals for sealing and finishing home interiors. Some furnishings, carpet backing, plastics and cosmetics also contribute to sick building syndrome because of their high vapor pressure. As these products are being used or when components oxidize, vapors of VOCs escape into the ambient air and contribute to indoor and outdoor air pollution. Many VOCs, especially methane, are greenhouse gases and contribute to global warming. The Environmental Protection Agency has found concentrations of VOCs in indoor air to be 2 to 5 times greater than in outdoor air. Realizing a need to reverse the negative environmental impact of many VOCs, local, regional and state governments in many countries have, during the past several years, put in place ever more stringent regulations limiting VOC emissions. In the US, California has been on the forefront requiring significantly lower levels of VOC in many products. Many consumers, some with allergies for example, have also helped advance this change in attitude among manufacturers of products containing VOC.
Free of Water and VOC
Hard-Wax Oil does not contain water: its components are mainly natural products. It does not contain volatile organic components (VOC free). Colors and protects through molecular bonding.
Durable protection
The molecular bonding creates a durable, long lasting protection. To obtain this molecular bonding, it is very important to strictly respect this reaction time of a couple of minutes. The better the fibers are bonded, the stronger the protection will be.
Easy to repair
This technology allows local repair of damaged areas or scratches: only the free wood fibers will absorb the product. The product next to the scratched or damaged area will not adhere. After the reaction time, all surplus product can be removed without overlaps. See our SUPPORT page for repair instructions