How to correct Osmo 'Raw' hardwax oil mistake

We bought enough reclaimed pine floorboards to cover the bottom floor of our (open plan) house. When choosing a product to seal it, we were recommended Osmo hardwax oil by the supplier.

We want a light-coloured look that is as close to the original pine as possible. We also want to keep the character of the reclaimed wood surface as intact as possible - it's been lightly wire-brushed by machine but still has plenty of colour variation, holes, knots and bumps. These make us happy.

What we don't want is an orange surface (a 'sauna' look).

We tried a few tester pots of Osma on some samples of the pine and the 'raw' version seemed ideal. The white pigment counteracted the natural tendency of the oil to give the wood a 'wet' look.

Unfortunately, after the builder applied a coat to half of the floor, we saw problems. Some planks (especially the darker ones) really picked out the white, looking like they'd been badly painted. Some with rougher surfaces picked out the grain in white, which looked quite ugly. Some looked OK, but all of them looked incredibly cold in sunlight. Almost like they were glowing a very light blue. (Is Osmo Raw UV reactive?)

So we asked the builder to stop staining while we re-evaluated. Also we asked him to experiment with sanding and wire-brushing to see how much could be undone.

With some light to medium sanding (using a hand sander) followed by wire-brushing along the grains we can bring things back to something acceptable - dark boards become lighter, the white is tamed (but not eliminated) and a lot of the coldness is removed. Some character is lost, but at this point it's probably an acceptable loss. The brushing exposes the grains a little as well, which we like.

SO:

- Is there a better way to remove the Osmo Raw tint?

- Is there a way to get a natural, non-orange pine look without Osmo Raw?

- Considering half the floor is now tinted (tainted?) with Osmo Raw, how can we get a consistent finish across the whole surface?

I'm guessing the answer to 3 is: 'wax the rest of the floor and sand back in the same way'...

We have spare boards we can use to test different combinations and scenarios if needed. This time we want to get it right - any help would be very much appreciated.

The wood is glued in place and the surface (as you can imagine) is not even.

Thanks!

We laid reclaimed pine floorboards and treated with osmo polyx hardwax oil which gave a lovely natural warm pine colour.

Also with the hardwax oil, less is definitely better therefore it isn't best to slap it on with a brush. A quite painstaking process of hand polishing with a cloth is what we were recommended and it looked lovely. MAybe your builder is putting too much on?

ON the other hand, are you sure the osmo raw is the product you really wanted? it contains white pigment... ?

I have used Osmo Polyx Satin Clear and also Osmo Polyx Raw transparent.

The Osmo Polyx Satin Clear was not clear and made the wood much darker and hid the grain I had so carefully prepared.

I removed the Osmo Polyx Satin Clear and started again using Osmo Polyx Raw transparent. Even when applying a very thin layer this left a lot of white marks.

If you want some that is "clear" do not use Osmo Polyx Satin Clear and if you want something "transparent" do not use Osmo Polyx Raw transparent.

The products are misleading and should not be described as "clear" or "transparent" because they are not.

I hope this saves you wasting your time.

as said osmo raw is pigmented and clearly says so on the tin. Best bet is to sand it all back to remove it and use a clear finish.
Lots of people love osmo products, personally I don't, as has been stated their descriptions are misleading.
Bona mega is my preference and that of loads professional floor finishers, I don't know of any professional floor finishers who use osmo, everyone around here uses Bona

Thanks for your response. Next time I will try something else. I agree their (Osmo) descriptions are misleading.

i haven't used Osmo Raw but if it contains a white pigment it will be a wipe on wipe of method of application

Osmo is a good product but its drawback is the problem you identify with the orange-ing. If you can clean the boards back to bare wood, try a coat of Treatex colour tone in their spruce finish, and then two coats of their Hard Waxoil in natural finish. We use this when we are asked to give a floor that white-tinted Scandinavian look and, because the Treatex formulation contains way less white spirit, you avoid the orange-ing!

Other manufacturers offer hybrid variants of HWO to deliver that popular white-in-the-grain look - Blanchon's Original Wood Environment for example - but only use one of these if your floor is in a bedroom or other light traffic room. Their ability to resist staining is woeful!