It is best not to try and use products outside the standard products used by hardwood flooring professionals. Not because they will always not work, but because the products designed for this industry are optimized to deal with the challenges of coloring and protecting hardwood floors based on decades to centuries of experience. For example large planks get large gaps in between, not because they expand or contract more, but the that expansion/contraction is distributed over fewer gaps, so the gaps in the winter of a 9" board will be 3 times the size of the gaps in a 3" board, possibly over 1/8" this is why 1.5"-3.25" are the typical widths installed. Even old growth, quartersawn boards will have similar problems only 10-20% less, still unsightly. Finish-wise there are considerations that are unique to the floor coating industry. Firstly floors take tons more abuse than furniture or cabinets so need more protection, as a result floor finishes are more durable than other finishes not intended for floor applications. Secondly stains designed for floors are designed to be taken evenly because you have one large continuous area that make any uneven-ness very noticeable. My recommendations are to use straight-grain yellow pine 3.25" inches wide, maybe 4" or 5" but that is really pushing it and coat with duraseal products. However if you really want a specialty finish look for Pallmann Magic Oil, it is a hybrid wax/catalyzed oil finish.

Shellac's solvent is denatured alcohol (or, um, real alcohol if that's handier.) If that doesn't work try mineral spirits or turp - it might just be old-fashioned varnish. Or you can have both, in serial layers. Oh, the joys of old houses! Either way, you'll know pretty quickly because the paper towel you rub the solvent on with will get sticky when you have a match between the product and the solvent. Do the tests in an out-of-the-way spot, naturally. It would be fab if it's shellac as it's much easier to lift than paint. The issue with paint is that it gets deep in the grain and between the boards and trying to sand down below it for total removal can result in sanding too deep. Believe it or not some of us actually still use shellac on floors. It has many adavantages: it's natural (it's made from insect secretions, which may or may not cheer you up!); it's almost completely reversible (as you will find if that's shellac on your floors, you'll bless who ever put it down); and it's touch-up-able as new coats actually dissolve the coat below. It is uncommon now and many (trades)people never having worked with it consider it too tricky to apply so there is much recommendation against it. It is not as durable as poly, though, and it is particularly vulnerable to water. (Though you can wax it - with well-buffed paste wax - to increase its resistance to water. It's very old-fashioned. I don't think it's as fouly stinky as poly. I like the softer, less plastic-y look to it, especially when waxed. It probably takes longer to apply (more coats) than slapping on some poly, which may be partly why it fell out of favor. Casey usually chimes with good advice about buying it dry and recommends not buying it at big box stores because their stuff is not fresh. One buys the shellac flakes in various tints and mixes with alcohol in situ. I think it is harder to apply when it is very hot and humid. At least I have more problems with uneven drying which can lead to a cloudiness. (Not fatal, but requiring another coat.) Try Googling about this. If you get beyond the anti-shellac propaganda, you'll find info and Youtubes of people who have done it. HTH L.

I realize this post is super old, but I just wanted to share some critical information with anyone considering Osmo on their floors. I just finished installing 2800 SF of flooring and finishing it with Osmo. I think I like the look, but the verdict is still out. It's definitely a more rustic look, so keep this in mind. I don't know if we didn't sand well enough, but the floor finish is not as even as I would have liked. Hopefully the look will grow on me. What I wanted everyone to know is that rags soaked with Osmo will spontaneously combust!!! There's a warning label on the can, but it's not especially noticeable, and we didn't read everything on the can. Well, let me just say... our rags spontaneously caught on fire, so take the warning very seriously. We had thrown the dirty rags in the trash and about 12 am, the bags caught on fire. Luckily, the bags were in our front yard awaiting trash pickup the next morning so the house was safe. Fortunately, my neighbor's dog alerted our neighbor, who called the fire department in the middle of the night to put out the fire. The flames were 6 feet high in no time. So if you use Osmo, do not under any circumstances leave soaked rags lying around and never, ever leave them inside of your house. I just wanted to get the warning out there. I feel blessed that no further damage was done but it would have been catastrophic had we not taken out the trash and if our neighbors didn't have such an alert dog.

Osmo really needs to be applied to untreated wood. Osmo is a hardwax oil which works by penetrating into the wood, then building on the surface, then hardening as the volatile compounds evaporate. If you've already applied Waterlox, its oils will have penetrated the wood, and ordinary sanding is not going to remove this. I think you'll be much more satisfied with the effect of using just one or the other. We did a 50/50 prep on our 6-ft long maple island top. My carpenter told me that a locally famous chef for whom he'd done a kitchen had specified Osmo for the cutting surfaces, so we put that on the range end, which I use as a prep area (like a cutting board). The other end got Waterlox, as did the rest of the countertops (sapele). We did all this in late spring, when the temps were over 50, though a few nights dipped down. If it will consistently be below 50, I'd suggest using a heater (we can rent those contractor-type propane heaters around here, and used them in our construction before the heating system was ready.) I suspect you'll get a smoother, more even coat if you can keep the temps in the recommended range. The last coat of Waterlox went on nice and smooth; no problems with bubbles or touch up needed. It's beautiful, and so easy to care for, just wipe it down and it gleams. I also finished all my drawers (birch plywood, came sanded/unfinished) with Osmo, because after the first couple of days of outgassing, the rest of the curing time is pretty much non-toxic. I figured since the drawers would spend so much time closed, any outgassing would be concentrated, so for these I did want the least toxic product. Osmo is super easy to work with -- I applied it with rags. I spent day after day in the room with lots of Osmo. I kept the windows partly open -- need some air circulation and fresh air while it's wet. After the first couple of hours the smell was not a problem at all. They dried overnight sufficiently to lightly sand and apply a second coat. Now, several months later, they're so silky -- easy to clean -- no residual smell. A local guy finished my cabinet doors with Osmo -- that's all he uses, because he believes it's safer sooner than other products, as well as easy to work with. I picked them up the day after he'd finished, at which point they were smooth/dry to the touch, but still had the Osmo smell -- like cooking oil left out. The smell was gone in a day or two. Really, I love both of these products. I do like the way water just beads up on the Waterlox countertops, and for that reason, I also used Waterlox on all my fir window sills.