Waterlox

[EQUINOX400]

I want to use Waterlox Original Formula on boxes I am making out of cherry and black walnut. Has anyone out there had experiences using this product ?

 

[Jesse Cloud]

Waterlox is an old standard for lots of us.  Its darn near fool proof.  I do have two issues with it, though.  1. Its outrageously expensive and 2)It turns to gelatin after you have opened the can a few times.  I suggest that you open the main can and pour a days worth into a smaller can or other container with a lid and close the lids quickly.  If you have some left over, toss it.  Don't risk contamination of the main can with the leftovers.

If you are wiping it on, wipe on a thin coat.  It will probably be no longer tacky after 30 minutes or so.  Buff it with a clean cloth and repeat for a few more coats.  If this is too much hassle, just put on a coat, dry overnight, scuff sand and repeat as necessary.

It will give a good warm finish and last a long time!

 

[JimRay]

Waterlox is an old standard for lots of us.  Its darn near fool proof.  I do have two issues with it, though.  1. Its outrageously expensive and 2)It turns to gelatin after you have opened the can a few times. 

Bloxygen will solve that problem. http://www.bloxygen.com/

Otherwise, +1

Jim Ray

 

[lumbajac]

As Jesse said, can gel up after can opened up.  If you can transfer what you have left after a major use to a smaller container that it just fits into this helps.  Also, covering the can tightly and storing upside down helps some in my experience, but not long,long-term.  Bloxygen sounds interesting as someone mentioned.

I've used Waterlox in my own home extensively and love it for its ease of repair and just like its warm-tone look on yellow birch and oak.

Check out Fine WoodWorking April 2011 issue, No.218.  Front cover is image of using Waterlox on oak and is touted as "The last finish you'll ever need."  That's stretching it a bit, but a real good article on technique(s) for using Waterlox.

 

[Kevin Stricker]

Best way to avoid gelling is to remove the air from the container.  If you buy a 1/2 gal container you can squeeze it with some wooden screw clamps tell the finish just tops off and cap it.  This way you can make a container last for several years at least.

I prefer the original wiping/sealer Waterlox to the brush on varieties.  Just wipe 5-10 coats on over as many days with wet sanding on the later half leading up to a final wipe on coat.

 

[EQUINOX400]

Many thanks to all responders. Great hints for keeping the Waterlox "fresh" and for steering me to the
Fine WoodWorking article.

 

[greenleaf]

What's the smell of water lox like. Would you use it in a house you lived in. Would the initial smell be tolerable?

 

[Jesse Cloud]

What's the smell of water lox like. Would you use it in a house you lived in. Would the initial smell be tolerable?

Waterlox is basically thinned varnish, so there is an odor while it is drying, but it will dry faster than regular varnish.  I wouldn't hesitate to use it in my garage or basement.  Inside the actual house, it just depends on how sensitive people are.

BTW, you can disguise the smell of any oil based varnish with a tiny drop of vanilla extract.  Won't affect the finish and it will smell great.

 

[Ken Nagrod]

Waterlox original/marine sealer is a combination of tung oil, linseed oil and a phenolic resin.  It has an odor that wears off within a day, but I wouldn't recommend using it inside of a closed space without some kind of fresh airflow.

 

[alamont]

Waterlox is amazing stuff, the finish is beautiful. I installed all the window, door, and base moldings in my house with douglas fir finished in waterlox. Turned out great, and the finish is pretty durable. My only recommendation is to NOT apply the waterlox in your living space, it has a very strong odor. Imagine spilling a big puddle of mineral spirits on the ground and standing over it for 8-12 hours. I applied the Waterlox to the trim on sawhorses in my attic, and even then the smell drifted downstairs. So long story short, try to keep it out of your living space until is dries (12 hrs)

Oh one other thing, if you apply 3-4 coats of the gloss, then wet sand the finish with mineral spirits using 400-600 grit, and then follow with a finish coat of satin you'll get some nice results. I like to use sponge brushes with this stuff because is goes on more smoothly and cleanup time is MUCH easier.

Hope this helps,
Alamont

 

[nehardwoodfloors]

Beautiful finish, but man it stinks! Not overnight either. My coffee table(and garage) smelled for dayS!

 

[Scott B.]

It is a tung oil in the truest, most badass sense of the word. We have done floors with it, and it is very much a standard on stair treads and, oh, the ipe bench built into the shower, etc. But man is it overkill for most practical, non high exposure situations. Many customers prefer a hand rubbed penetrating oil, with or without omu topcoats over it.

Waterlox is brutal on most of the senses.

 

[Ken Nagrod]

It is a tung oil in the truest, most badass sense of the word. We have done floors with it, and it is very much a standard on stair treads and, oh, the ipe bench built into the shower, etc. But man is it overkill for most practical, non high exposure situations. Many customers prefer a hand rubbed penetrating oil, with or without omu topcoats over it.

Waterlox is brutal on most of the senses.

I have to disagree with you, Scott.  Oil finishes by themselves provide little to no protection.  Waterlox does and allows for easier repairs.

 

[Scott B.]

Ken

Depends at which level you disagree.

A blanket statement such as: "oils provide little to no protection" is flawed. There are noteable product exceptions, but more importantly, there are too many variables in process and wood species for a product based blanket statement to hold up for very long in the eyes of a professional painter.

 

[Ken Nagrod]

Scott,

Here's what I mean.  Surface applied oils either absorb into the wood or sit on top of the surface, depending on the wood's porosity and any other finish that may be on it.  Either way, it still doesn't provide a protective barrier to physical damage.  It provides limited protection to air and moisture conditions having to be frequently reapplied over the life of the wood.  It may or may not provide limited protection from U.V. rays inside or out if it includes U.V. inhibitors.  There's no wear layer to protect the wood itself for example like a poly or even the plastic resin in the Waterlox.  If it's a butcherblock countertop that will get oiled frequently, no big deal.

 

[Scott B.]

I understand the thought process. But in reality, mil thickness achieved in a polymerized coatings or even polys at sprayed mil thicknesses may provide some minor scuff resistance but as an impact barrier, they are limited. Much more limited than a primer/paint system.

The situations I am referring to where it would be overkill to build a Waterlox system would be like this:

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But I could also post a few dozen photos of projects from as long ago as 16 years, or as recent as last month, where a properly executed penetrator can live perfectly well on highly tactile surfaces like this:

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And where the marriage of penetrating oil and wood species is ideal, I like to go exterior in high exposures with them:

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The key to a good penetrating oil is in the type and quality of pigment. Good pigment in the right penetrating delivery system with species specific prep can be very similar to using dye stain on cabinetry.

The whole discussion is whether oil is best served in or on wood. Both have merits, and that is why it is important to be competent in both. Dont get me wrong, there are some film formers I would not be able to live without. Just as many as penetrators actually.

 

[b_m_hart]

Sorry if this derails it a bit... but I'm about to finish around 2,000 sq. ft. of white oak flooring, and after reading up on this, am liking the idea of using it.  I have a dog and there will be two very small children crawling and running around on it.  It looks like it will hold up fairly well, but I like the idea that I can do repair work without sanding areas down and trying to then match the existing poly.  How well does this repairing actually work?  And for a harder wood like oak, scratching shouldn't be a big problem relative to what I would have seen on the poly anyway, right?  I ask because I just had the entryway to my current place refinished a year and a half ago, and there are scratches all over the place from the dog...

 

[Scott B.]

bm

Is it a new floor or existing? If new, prefinish with 2-3 coats and top it off with one after install. If existing, you will have to do a pretty serious scuff sand prep. I haven't put Waterlox over an existing finish, and if I did, I think I would want the existing to be gone. The safer route would be an oil modified urethane like Zar Ultramax Satin.

We do a few floors a year, and its about 50/50 whether we choose Waterlox or Ultramax.

To your question though, repair in either case would be the same. Isolate the boards that are damaged, block sand them to reduce the appearance of the scratches in the finish, and you have to sand the entire course, not just a section of the piece. The wood species under the finish is kind of irrelevant, because your goal in repair is not to punch all the way through to raw substrate. When reapplying the finish, don't overlap onto adjacent pieces that you didnt sand. Its all about isolating the entire course of the affected pieces during sanding and reapplication of finish. If you do it clean, it will blend perfectly. Be sure to vac thoroughly and tack wipe before applying.

Here is an example of a repair that we did on a Walnut floor that we had 5 coats of Ultramax on. Photo quality is not very good, but you should be able to see the dulled courses that we block sanded. It was the same situations. Dog scratches and humans tracking in pebbles stuck to their shoes.

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[b_m_hart]

I'm putting down 2" face nailed strips over about 1000 sq ft to match the original (1904ish) floors.  For some strange reason, they left a big part of the house with the douglas fir (subfloor) as the "floor" and just didn't bother taking the oak into certain rooms (like the dining room or kitchen or all of upstairs to meet the beautiful oak stairs).  I plan to have someone come in and sand down all of the areas with the existing poly finish, it's chewed up pretty bad in certain areas, but the wood looks to be in decent shape still.

 

[Kevin Stricker]

I wouldn't consider Waterlox if you have kids unless you all are going on vacation for a couple weeks.  For hardwood floors you are going to want 4-5 coats, which will take at least a couple weeks to even a month to off-gass. As previously mentioned Waterlox is a pretty high VOC finish.  If you don't want to go the Poly route maybe consider a hard wax finish.