Hello Folks, We are testing out some hardwood floor stains & finishes on a section of our white oak floors before embarking on the larger project. In the first photo below, we applied 1 layer of Minwax pre-stain wood conditioner followed by 2 layers of Minwax oil-based stain (natural 209), let it dry for 3 days then applied 2 layers of Bona Traffic HD in satin and left it to dry overnight. In checking on it in the morning, we noticed areas that became "dandelion yellow" (circled in the photo below) as noted by SJ McCarthy and wanted to know if this an artifact of not applying a sealant after staining/prior to adding the Bona Traffic HD. Any thoughts on how to avoid this? Would applying a sealant prior to the water-based Bona Traffic HD prevent the yellowing? If so, what Bona sealant would you advise using? The second photo underwent an identical process except we only applied 1 layer of the Minwax oil-based stain (natural 209) and observed minimal yellowing. Don't know what to make of that. We'd like to use the combination of the Minwax product and the Bona Traffic HD so any advice on how to prevent the yellowing would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance. Cheers, Anthony (Apologies if the photo quality isn't great)

chinchette yes it has a shine to it you really have to cover the whole floor or it will show Capegirl I put on two coats and they say about a year - its been well over 2 years for my DD's room and it look like the day we put it on, of course she keeps the floor well "protected" with a layer of clothes and other stuff lol. But even the occasional wet towel left on it doesn't do any harm, however if I find one more of those on the floor ..... I did not buy the system I used a "lambswool" applicator pad. Long smooth strokes with the grain work best, you want to minimize bubbling, but it was EZ to work with. I'll see if I can get to post a before and after pic later.

I never said anyone MUST have done anything. I'm saying "check" to see what you used....just in case. Here's my own quote: 'Check to see if the bottle says "Cleaner" or "Polish"'. Now...the question becomes why is Bona Cleaner doing this? Bona Cleaner is a chemical with precise properties. If it is over used it can have deleterious effects. Hazing is the most common presentation. Over use is not the ONLY way to get the haze but it is the MOST COMMON. I've seen people have great experience when they used the cleaner sparingly (1-4 times per year). I've seen people have decent results with the proscribed use (1 per month). But even then, it can have hazing results. Over use would be considered: 1. Too much cleaner used at the time of the application (too much chemical)....the application being 1 per month (which is the proscribed rate). 2. Too much cleaner can mean too many days of application per month. Anything over 2 days per month (24 applications a year) is considered 'over use'. 3. Too much cleaner can mean (and often does) a mixture of both #1 and #2. A little bit too much cleaner used too often. That 'snick' of over use can be part and parcel of ANY wood cleaner that produces a haze. Armstrong and Bruce cleaner also have this issue. So it isn't just Bona....it's just the one with the BIG name that people choose to complain about. What is interesting is, the haze does not develop if the floors are toweled dry....which is to say...the CHEMICAL is wiped off BEFORE it can dry onto the floor and create product build up. Can Bona Cleaner produce a haze on the first application with the right amount of chemical? Hell to the yah! For this to happen, there are many things that have to go very wrong...it it can happen. The most common reason it causes haze on the fist application: it was applied to the wrong TYPE of finish.

I know this is an old thread but I felt the need to reply. We used Bona Traffic 5 years ago using spice brown stain followed by the Satin poly HD 2 part system. I remember back then it stated the darker color allow 12 hour dry time which we did. Then we applied two coats of finish. I recall that it took longer then 2 weeks to fully set and get solid but eventually it did and worked out great. Fast forward we got a new house. Great wood floors. Again we refinished them using the Bona HD traffic 2 part system in semi gloss. We used a lighter finish this time which stated on the stain can stated to allow 2-3 hours drying time in normal humidity. So this time around we followed the instructions and allowed 3 hours for the stain to dry on a lovely 75 degree sunny day. I did not go heavy on the stain and I would use a dry cloth to buff out the excess as I went along. Everything looked great. We have experience with the sanding so we spent roughly 10 hours using the different grits down to the 100 grit as the final step as instructed. Floors were lovely and down to the bare unadultured wood. We then vacuumed them and got every last bit of dust off using special footies as to not contaminate the floor with our feet. We could not have followed the instructions more perfectly. In fact we researched for a week and spoke to a floor refinishing company just to insure we did things 100% correctly. Well here we are now, 12 days in and I can scratch this off with my nail in many places. I am not talking just a scratch in the wood, but a peeling of the top coat scraping down to and exposing bare wood. I am sick to my stomach. The floor will not last. It is supposed to be strong like for a gym. This would not hold up to a room of infants. We luckily were finishing in a vacant home so nothing was placed on the floor for 10 days. It's not even worth moving all of our heavy furniture and starting over so I am going to put laminate floors over top of this and be done with it. I called Bona and they told me that they suggest 8 hour stain drying time. Well then why the heck would you state on your product 2-3 hours? Human error on my part? I think not I did everything that Bona said. Disgusted with the product. I should have used a cheaper oil base from the big box store. Biggest regret of my life. Perhaps Bona stored the product in a cold warehouse? Maybe it was a faulty batch with bad hardener? I have no idea but it behaves like something that did not have hardener. However I checked the unused bottle the next day and it was solidifying in the jug. Something failed and I can't understand what because I followed Bona instructions to a T.