keeping my parquet floor light

[bennythaball]

First of all let me say how glad I am to have stumbled across this site, it seems to be an excellent forum for sharing knowledge. Thanks to WYL and Nestor.

My problem: I've just had some reclaimed 'Keruing' parquet tiles (I was told they were Keruing although I've never heard of this wood) which were then sanded down. Great. I asked for them to be oiled with a clear oil and the wood went much darker and a reddy-brown colour, the natural colour of the wood I was told although the oil did look brown to me.
Not happy with this I have re-sanded and the wood is now a much paler colour, not dissimilar to Oak.
I realise this is due to dust etc but I don't know what to do next to retain as light a colour as possible. Do I have to clean it? Is Polyurethane varnish the best neutral treatment? Will this change the colour? Should my wife learn to love a reddy brown floor?

Thanks in advance[/b]

 

[WoodYouLike]

Most simple test you can do to see what a neutral/natural finish will look like on your floor is to make a little part (which has been sanded = bare wood) wet with water (filtered if possible if you live in a hard-water area and not a bucket full of course )