Yesterday evening we decided to clear out the lounge and treat the oak flooring with an oil. How long could slapping a bit of oil on a floor take ?

Well it took a good deal longer than expected. Firstly I had to rub down the floorboards with a fine glasspaper because the grain of the wood had lifted slightly from the previous application of a woodworm treatment. The tin of oil (Huile Naturelle pour Parquets, incolore mat) said to apply liberally with a brush then wipe of the excess after an hour. Well of course I knew better and decided not to wipe off the excess and leave it overnight to soak in. Anyway it was getting to 2′o’clock in the morning and bed was calling.

So this morning we find that most of the oil had soaked in but it was still very wet and like an ice skating rink. Maybe if we leave it a bit longer it will disappear. Well it didn’t. So we both had to remove our shoes and socks and paddle in armed with piles of old cloths and towels to mop up the excess. This actually took quite a while because the oil had now started to go sticky and was pretty difficult to remove.

Fortunately it all turned out OK, as once the excess had been removed the floor dried properly (as it said it would on the tin) and the finish looked fantastic. The oil really brought out the grain and gave the oak planks a nice warm colour. The photo shows the difference between the pre-treated oak and the oiled oak.

In case you are wonder why I didn’t just use a varnish, it’s because I find that a varnish (even a matt finish) leaves a slightly ‘plastic’ sheen on the wood and I believe the oil shows a more natural finish and lets the wood ‘breath’ . The oil finish is slightly higher maintenance as it needs to be re-applied occasionally, but I think worth it.