Raw
linseed oil
I live in a 1905 house with all wood
floors. I think of it as a living
museum, and I'm the one living in it. I try to use ways our ancestors used.
Once a month I swab the wood floors with a vinegar water solution to try clean
them. Then I put on oil, and it generally takes about a day to soak into the
wood, or just dry out. During this period the floors are slick as ice,
especially during the first few hours.
Now about any kind of oil can be
used. Now I don't think that applies to the oil we use in our cars, or other
such petrochemical products.
Yesterday, I tried using old
fashioned raw linseed oil as my oil for the wood instead of more modern oil
concoctions. I have not tried boiled
linseed oil, by the way.
Basically, one can see the wear
patterns in the wood before they start, and that is generally where I focus my
mopping efforts to apply to the wood. Now I
do the whole floor just to make sure there are no dried mop lines left,
but still concentrate on the high wear areas, usually with extra raw linseed
oil.
So far I like the results. And I
noticed last night an inside dog licking the floor, and after research on the
Internet, read raw linseed oil has food qualities, too. The dog had already
figured it out.
Now I'm thinking it has down sides I
don't know about, too. After all, we have more modern was to preserve wood,
too. I assume that is for good reasons.
Also, I have used other oils on my
outside porches wood in the past, and it does waterproof the wood, like causes
the water from rain, etc., to bead up, and evaporate.
Last I started oiling my wood floors
a year or two ago. Well, I guess it had not been done for years, as the wood
seemed "thirsty" on the first application.
As to raw linseed oil, only
time will tell the pros and cons. Now I do think it is still often used for
shining up wood stocks for rifles. And I have been taught it was a preferred
oil for wood floor use in our human past.
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