It's well known that American Cherry darkens significantly.

IMO, natural Cherry and natural Red Oak look great together. I especially like rift and quartered Red Oak but I do like it with a very light stain so it doesn't look so orange once the poly ambers.

Thanks, jfcwood! I have a sample door in the cherry, which has darkened, so I know to expect that from the cherry. Just wasn't sure about the darker color in relationship to the natural red oak. I'm encouraged that you think natural oak and cherry look good together. But quick question: we are thinking of using water-based poly (to avoid the yellowing), so given that, do you still think a light stain is preferable? And, if so, what would you suggest to complement the natural cherry cabinets?

I was actually thinking of recommending you use water based urethane but wondered if it might be too light for your taste. We mainly use Bona products. They have a sealer called Bona Seal which doesn't amber the wood so it starts out nice and light. I'd recommend using either the standard Mega with Mega booster in the final coat or Mega Clear HD, which is truly non-yellowing.

The downside with waterborne urethane is that after many years, the wood will lighten, especially where it gets direct sunlight. Personally I think it's a reasonable tradeoff.

I remember when I was a kid, I helped sand a red oak floor that had ambered quite a bit. Once refinished with oil poly, it was beautiful. About 20 years later I went back to do an estimate to refinish it again and of course it was worn and ambered all over again.

I like the natural Red Oak against Am. Cherry but if you want to bring out the grain character a little, a very light stain will do that, and potentially make it a little more practical*. I'm thinking something comparable to a Minwax Cherry color, maybe mixed with neutral or even a little Golden Oak. I believe that DuraSeal now offers all the MInwax colors in a quick dry formulation that's compatible with water-borne finishes.

* Red Oak has rather deep and prominent grain. As it wears, the grain will almost inevitably get darker. With a light stain, you don't notice the difference between the high wear areas and the low wear areas.

jfcwood, this is incredibly helpful information! Thank you so much.

We are actually looking at the Bona products, but I was thinking Bona Naturale. We like the idea of a matte look and originally thought we would use Rubio Monocoat. I just have not been able to find a color that works. The only color that let's the beauty of the wood shine through in my opinion is the Pure - and it turns the wood amber. I definitely want to avoid ambering (if that's a word) as much as possible. Any thoughts on using Bona Naturale?

And one other question: What happens when you mix a stain with neutral?

I had one client who used Naturale and hated it. It was hard to clean. We ended up coating over it with Traffic satin even before they moved in. I have one floor with Naturale in my showroom just to show people how dull it is. Traffic satin is 12% to 15% gloss. I think Naturale is more like 2% to 5%.

On the Rubio, have you tried the 5% White? How about Cotton White? Possibly a mix of Pure and Cotton White would be a little lighter than Pure without turning the floor pinkish.

Basically mixing neutral and stain just lightens the stain toward the clear. So if you took Cherry and it was too much color, you could add 3 or 4 (or more) parts of clear to lighten it up.

jfcwood, you are the best!

So, I'm assuming traffic satin is the least shiny of the Bona shiny finishes? But still water-based?

I did try 5% white, and even mixed it 2 parts to one part with Pure. But the white gathers on the grain and comes out looking kind of muddy. Don't know about cotton white but I just got a sample of super white in the mail. Haven't played with it too much. Do you happen to know the difference between Cotton White and Super White?

Good info on the neutral. We also have an issue with a southern yellow pine ceiling... too yellow. I'm thinking about a very light stain, maybe Early American or Provincial lightened with neutral.

Quick update: I tried the Rubio Monocoat Pure on samples of the actual flooring. (All testing prior to this has been done on red oak picked up at Lowe's.) Quite a difference. The color isn't as golden as on the first samples I did - and I really, really love the finish.

The Super White has a lot of white pigment, much more so than the 5% White. Cotton White is a little softer white with a slight tan tone. It might look better with the Pure. Even at a ratio of 1 part in 10 or 20 it will mitigate the goldness of the Pure, but it's hard to measure that doing samples from the little bottles. Buying larger quantities to use for samples gets expensive.

There's a product people use here to spray their Cypress ceilings. It maintains that raw wood look. I can't recall what it is but you can call Boulevard Paints at 561-863-6666 and inquire if you think it might solve your Pine ceiling issue.

Good information on the ratio of the Rubio Monocoat colors. I just ordered the 5% white (again - lost the first bottle) and the cotton white. And I have another question, jfcwood (if you're still willing to share your expertise). What is your experience with Rubio Monocoat? Pros and cons from your perspective?

I've done jobs with different oil products but used the Rubio only twice. One turned out perfect. It was a mix of White and Pure on rift sawn White Oak. The owner insisted on using a green finish with no solvents and I warned her it was fine except for potential issues with dog accidents. You can probably guess what happened.

The second was Super White that we water popped. It ended up with some cloudy areas which points out issues with finishing technique. The floor needs to be sanded perfectly and scrupulously cleaned before oil application, and the finish needs to be removed completely or it will be cloudy.

I just finished a natural color job with WOCA. It turned out nice in the end but took a bit of work. We washed the freshly sanded floor with the Wood Cleaner. The effect of the water made the floor look less smooth than desired. We tried extra coats, abraded with an abrasive nylon pad then re-oiled to the same end. Then we re-screened the floor, applied two more coats and it looks great. I think I'd forgo the cleaning step in the future.

I like the idea of the Rubio and even have enough material in stock to do my own floor however I like the ease of maintenance and relative simplicity of the WOCA product line. The Rubio Soap is crazy expensive IMO. Coloring my opinion is that my local Rubio distributor is somewhat pathetic. I found a distributor in GA that carries WOCA and Rubio so that will at least put that issue to rest and give me a resource with expertise to draw on.

I like the Rubio Smoke, Fumed and Precolor products for the breadth of unique looks it can achieve when used with their products.

The bad? It requires more routine maintenance than poly. It's more susceptible to minor spills and stains. You are unlikely to find maintenance product for sale locally, so stock up.

I have two older parquet floors in a wood that's no longer available. I plan on sanding it, wire brushing it, then applying a mix of White and Super White with the idea that the floor will go from it's current dark mahogany look, to a coffee with cream color with white in the deeper grain.

I don't know that I'd use it in my own kitchen even though I can pay my own workers to change it fairly effortlessly. I am something of a skeptic when reading the claims of the wonders of the new generation of oil finishes, even though I'd like them to be true.

Sounds as if you're not keen on Rubio for sure. What's the best, least-VOC, least-ambering oil finish, in your opinion? Is there such a thing?

I had that combo in my kitchen. It was beautiful. I had a flood and cold not find red oak so I switched to natural amazon mahogany. Makes a great pair.