Special
Colouring : oil or stain
WHY CHOOSE A STAIN WHEN THERE’S COLOUR OIL? OR, BETTER STILL, WHY CHOOSE IT WHEN IT’S NOT NECESSARY? In this connection it is important to realise that a stain does not in any way protect a wooden floor. You can use a stain to ‘pre-colour’ a floor and apply a finish after that. Those who wish to stick with parquet lacquer as an end protection and yet also want some colour are recommended to use a colour stain. Those who in any case prefer the look of an oil treatment can surely just as well opt immediately for a colour oil? Yet that’s not completely true since the combination of pre-colouring with colour oil can yield surprising effects.
Colouring? Why not? Some people still feel wooden floors should fully preserve the look which is typical of the wood sort. In other words, don’t tamper with wood. Some people see colouring parquet as a tacky violation of the ‘elegance’ of wood. Yet that’s a little surprising. After all, colouring wood takes nothing away from the look of the wood sort, in fact quite the contrary. Some sorts of wood are enriched by a dash of colour, and oak in particular, which oozes enough class on its own, takes on a touch of added value. According to many people, the wood with the most ‘elegance’ is still European oak and that is precisely the wood which has been coloured in various ways for several years now. The fact is that oak has the big asset of being suitable for various treatments. For instance, it is perfectly possible to give oak the look of a tropical wood, partly due to the fairly neutral wood grain.
Staining or oiling? As we’ve said, some ways of colouring wood relate to ‘pre-colouring’ and do not protect the wood at all. That applies, for instance, to treating in lye and smoking, but therefore also to staining, the most commonly applied method for colouring wood for many years. Staining parquet can give wood any colours as required, from black over blue-grey to white, anything is possible. A stain penetrates deep into the wood, makes a nice contrast, and thereby highlights the specific wood structure. It can be combined afterwards with oil, bees wax, or varnish. With a colour oil, we apply protection and colour in one finish product. This method is suitable for all new wooden floors or parquet in all wood sorts which have just been sandpapered. Colour oils include a wide range of modern and timeless colours. They are usually prepared by adding pigments to the natural oil. Moreover, you can still combine colour oils with other treatments such as lye, smoking, or staining to obtain highly individual results.
Conclusion A balanced view Oil requires only one work session Most techniques for pre-colouring wood still don’t offer any protection. And so, they need a supplementary finish. That can be wax, lacquer, or oil. In the case of colour oil the colouring and the protection is applied in one sweep. That obviously saves time.
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With all the well known advantages of oil Oil preserves the natural look of the wood like no other finish. The structure, the grains, the colour, everything still closely resembles the features of an untreated floor. Since the oil impregnates the wood (i.e. fills the pores of the wood), a floor treated with oil is waterproof and dirt-proof. Scratches can obviously still occur in an oiled floor, but they are less noticeable than scratches in a lacquered floor. Moreover, an oiled floor is easy to maintain and when it is due to be touched up, it doesn’t have to be sandpapered. The durability with a renovation The fact that oil penetrates deep into the wood is a blessing and a curse in the case of renovation; a blessing because the colour is preserved, but a curse because it’s not easy to change that colour.
What’s on the market ? Blanchon Colouring wooden floors has been a major trend in the parquet world for some years and all parties from producers to fitters have joined in. Oak is still the most popular wood and, moreover, lends itself best to a colour treatment. Blanchon has offered a full range of oils, wax oils, and hard wax oils for over 20 years. As of this year, the assortment in five ranges with 45 nuances now has the option of ordering no fewer than 90 shades which are supplied in a week. That immediately means a choice of over 135 colour shades, but in fact options are unlimited since the oil is often applied to a parquet floor already coloured in some way or other e.g. by some distressing techniques. The shades of white and grey have been the most striking for about the last 10 years, but with various derived shades. Experienced fitters even use a wet-in-wet technique to obtain special effects such as marbled or with shadows. Pigments are generally used to obtain colour because they are more resistant to light than colouring agents and also because there is no such thing as a white colouring agent. Moreover, pigments give deeper and more intense shades of colour. The addition of a UV filter, certainly with water-based oils, can give added value both decoratively and technically (durability).
