Finish for wood floors
Osmo and Rubio both name floors for their hardwax oils; Rubio says Oil Plus 2C is very wear-resistant and Osmo gives sanding grits for flooring. Zinsser lists hardwood floors, stair treads and landings among its recommended uses for Bulls Eye Shellac, while also saying shellac is not as durable or scratch-resistant as floor finishes.
PPG says its brushing lacquer is not for floors, and Rust-Oleum says the same of Watco Wipe-On Poly. We have not yet read a dedicated floor polyurethane’s data sheet, so none is listed here.
Makers who name floors
| Product | Touch-dry | Recoat | Use | Full cure | Coverage | Thinning and notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Osmo Polyx-Oil Original One source: Osmo, the maker of that product | — | 8–10 h | — | — | 24 m² per litre | Thinning: Do not thin.Plant oils and waxes; two thin coats on bare wood, one to renew. |
| Rubio Monocoat Oil Plus 2C One source: Rubio Monocoat, the maker of that product | — | —remove all excess within 15 minutes per zone | 24–36 huse (80 % cured in 2 days) | — | 30–50 m² per litre | Thinning: Do not dilute.Two-part: mix about 3 parts A to 1 part B; one coat; clean with water and soap after 5 days. |
| Zinsser Bulls Eye Shellac One source: Rust-Oleum (Zinsser), the maker of that product | 10–15 min | 0.33–1 h | — | — | 400–600 sq ft per gallon | Thinning: Denatured alcohol (premixed at a 3 lb cut; Zinsser recommends thinning).Conditions: 70 °F; not above 85 % RH.First coat on bare wood: sand and recoat in about 20–30 minutes; later coats touch-dry in 10–15 minutes and recoat in about an hour. Not recommended under polyurethane. |
Makers who rule it out
- Watco Wipe-On Poly: Rust-Oleum (Watco) says not for floors.
- ProLuxe (Deft) Brushing Lacquer: PPG (ProLuxe, formerly Deft) says not for floors.
These lists come from what each maker writes about its own product, not from our own testing or ranking. A product left off has not been read yet, or its maker does not mention this use.
Related
Work it out for your project
Times are the makers' own at the temperature and humidity they name, and several of them say cooler, damper conditions slow their finishes. For how much to buy, the finish coverage calculator uses these same coverage figures. Every finish side by side: the finish dry time chart. What the federal rules say about finishes and food: food-contact finishes.
Elsewhere in finishing: shellac and the shellac cut calculator; for repairs before the finish, wood filler vs wood putty; and for the glue-up, wood glue types.