A 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 woods 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.

History of Hard Wax-Oil Finish:

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 isnt your fathers floor, it is in spirit with your Grandfathers and Great-Grandfathers 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 surfacemaintaining 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, Stang-Lund Oil adheres with the first microns of the wood (with no film forming or saturation).

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

Hardwax Oil is an innovative hardwood flooring finish that consists of 3 layers of wax oil produced from natural components. Among the main ingredients of Hardwax Oil are organic oil, wax of Carnauba palm tree, and other natural components. Hardwax Oil is an oxidative finish; it dries out on open air. In Hardwax Oil finish, oil easily penetrates into wood pores, deeply saturating the wood, strengthening and protecting it from ill effects of moisture, dirt etc. Waxes create a hard protective film on the wood surface. Aside from moisture defense, they protect the floor surface from wearing. Hardwood floors with Hardwax Oil finish easily absorb moisture and release it back into the air, thus helping to ensure a healthy atmosphere in the room.Properties

Along with wire brushing technique, Hardwax Oil finish emphasizes natural texture and beauty of white oak. Pores appear open, visually preserving the depth of texture and relief. Floor surface is warm and pleasant to touch, like that of natural, untreated wood.

Deep saturation in natural oil and surface wax film are the two features of Hardwax Oil finish that ensure excellent protection from most household solvents and

food substances, such as coffee, wine etc.

Hardwax Oil finish has a soft matte sheen, much like that of natural wood. Following finish renewal or re-waxing of the floor, the sheen level temporarily increases, but returns to normal within a few days.

Surface film that consists of hard wax of Carnauba palm tree gives the finish its high wear resistance much higher than that of traditional oiled floors. In areas that receive most traffic, Hard Wax finish should be periodically rebuilt. Coswick Hardwax Oil restorative cleaner contains up to 10% wax, and, in addition to cleaning the floor surface, ensures renewal of worn-down layers of Hardwax Oil.Care and Maintenance

Maintenance of hardwood floors with Hardwax Oil finish assumes regular (daily if necessary) cleaning from dust and grit using a vacuum, followed by a thorough cleaning with Coswick Hardwood Floor Cleaner or other similar product.

Floor surface areas that receive the most traffic and get worn down quicker, such as areas by the front door, hallways, kitchens etc., should be periodically cleaned with special Restorative Hardwood Floor Cleaner (by Coswick). Aside from cleaning the floor, this product also restores the protective wax film. Frequency of use depends on type of interior and intensity of foot traffic. For residential interiors, restorative cleaning should be done 1-2 times per month; for public and commercial interiors with intense foot traffic, using the product 1-2 times per week is recommended.

As the floor finish wears down over time, full renewal may become necessary. This can be done using colorless Coswick Hardwax Oil. Following the initial cleaning of the floor surface using a vacuum and Coswick hardwood floor cleaner, apply Hardwax Oil to the surface using a soft mop or cloth pad, and rub it evenly over the entire surface. Use 10-15Eco Hardwax Oil grams of Hardwax Oil per square meter of floor surface. Drying time is less than 2 hours. This simple finish renewal procedure fully restores the original look and extends the durability of the floor. For residential interiors, floor renewal procedure should be performed once in 3-5 years, depending on intensity of foot traffic and floor maintenance practices.Repairability

Hardwood flooring with Hardwax Oil finish is distinguished by its high repairability. The repair procedure does not require for the planks to be replaced or for the entire floor to be refinished. In case of scratches or minor damages, wood surface can be restored simply by applying more Hardwax Oil. During repair of stained floors, the procedure depends on severity of damage. If the wood is damaged all the way to wood, then it is necessary to sand affected surface area and apply stained Hardwax Oil. Following the spot repair, it is recommended to complete the job by performing a full finish renewal in order to even out the gloss level across the entire floor surface.Range of Use

Hardwax Oil flooring finish has very high elasticity and resistance to ill effects of moisture and temperature fluctuations. For this reason, hardwood floors finished with Hardwax Oil can be installed in a wide range of interiors, ranging from condos and offices, to rural cottages. Given proper maintenance and regular restorative cleaning, floors with this type of finish are ideal for restaurants, bars and other high traffic public interiors, including airports. Due to textured appearance achieved through wire brushing of the wood surface and low finish gloss, most scratches, dents and other minor damages are practically invisible on the floor surface, which significantly eases floor maintenance.

Life of a hardwood floor with Hardwax Oil finish depends on timely care and restoration. With proper care and adherence to all recommendations regarding floor maintenance, hardwood floors with Hardwax Oil finish will last a lifetime.