Closest Minwax color to Rubio Monocoat Black (not Charcoal)

3 years ago

I love the Rubio Black, but would like to stick with a traditional refinishing process. To that end, I am trying to replicate the same color in Minwax. Dark Walnut maybe? Or Provincial? Jacobean seems too dark. Seems the veins in the Rubio are more of a dark brown, vs blackish in Dark Walnut. Provincial seems to be a little lighter overall. I have also tried Espresso, which has too much red (and my floors are red oak so I don;t want to add any more red). I have tried some combinations around DW but just can't get there. Just wondering if anyone else has gone through the same thing or is knowledgeable about what color might best replicate it (I do realize of course that it will never be an exact match). Thank you for your help

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Comments (5)

SJ McCarthy
3 years ago
What finish are you going to put over the minwax?

The Rubio Black is highlighting the grain (turning it black). This is easily achieved by water popping your floor. Water popping opens the grain (the medullary rays grab MORE colour than the wood around them) to allow for deeper colours showing up in the grain.

Once the floor has been sanded down, your professional will offer colour samples (water popping included AND a coat of FINISH over top) of the colour you are trying to achieve. You will then choose the one you like the best.

Water popping is what you want. The colour will be finessed from there.
gyk1
Original Author
3 years ago
Thanks SJ. We will finish with Bona oil-based poly. Also I told my floor guy I want to use Duraseal, as opposed to Minwax, but the color question stands.
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Without reading thru the comments I wanted to give my thoughts as a decorative finish artist for anyone who finds this thread (I apologize if someones already mentioned these things).. The OP has a great eye! She knew the green undertone would be required to offset her countertops (vs a cooler blue tone). This is very important on large scale installs (like cabinets) & her requested finish IS possible. Wood can be finished to almost any color/type finish with the right products and/or combination of such. Wood toner can be used as the base coat to set the tone & a grey pigmented stain or lacquer applied over top. Its similar to the way color correction is done with makeup; the correction color is applyed before concealer or foundation and virtually disappears but the undertone works to cancel problem areas...same principal applies here! The type of wood used is just as important as the undertone. Every wood has natural coloring that develops over time w/ exposure to air & UV rays. If popular or ash is used the green tone will become stronger as the cabinets age and darken, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing..depends on personal taste’s. If your cabinet maker doesn’t have a speciality finisher in house you can contract finishing to someone who works in the fine woodworking, finish carpentry, or decorativing painting industry. Basically- anyone who knows color theory AND various wood qualities.
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I've just been on the monocoat.us site and did some more detailed reading of it. That' what I'm going with! I was impressed by the technology of it, that it causes the wood fibers to compress and bond, so it's not even that it "needs" only one coat but rather it will only take one coat because once the reaction occurs, the wood fibers can't take another coat. Impressive. It's also safer, i.e.: food/health. It's also a lot easier to repair if needed, and really impressive is that, if you do need to do a repair, because of the bonding technology, any bonded fibers around the area being repaired will not take the new Monocoat being applied! I think that's amazing. Their site does have a gallery with pic of kitchen counters, including one around a kitchen sink with a big ol' puddle of water on it. As well, kitchen counters are certainly a heck of a lot easier to re-coat every 3- 6 years, as recommended, than floors. So, Monocoat it will be for my kitchen counters. I wouldn't hesitate to use it on an island counter (is there a sink in the island?). My only concern with the Monocoat, aside from the color, was the water around the sink, thing. But that seems to be resolved for me. I'm going to order three samples: Antique Bronze, Castle Brown, and Walnut. I want a rich somewhat deep but not dark brown with gold highlights but with NO red or orange.
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I have no doubt you will do just fine. My DIY clients found the Loba easy to work with once they understood some of the 'rules'. Some of my best applications came from homeowners willing to learn the rules and READ the instructions. The Loba is a "shaken not stirred" type of product. It has ANTI-FROTHING products added to it...that's why it has such a hefty price tag! You will shake BOTH containers for 60 seconds. Then you will mix the two products (into a third container...like a measuring cup - l like one's with milliters listed because it makes the 10:1 measurements STUPID easy ;-). Once the two are mixed, you can shake them for another 60 seconds (or a VERY good stir for 1-2 minutes). You are ready to go. You will see bubbles but you will IGNORE the bubbles. Yep. I said ignore. The Loba is "self correcting and self leveling". That is to say, the BUBBLES will disappear BEFORE the finish cures (you won't see them later on) and the areas with a little bit MORE finish (like a little wake line from time to time) will level itself out. Again it will not be seen once it drys. That's why Loba is relatively easy to use. Once it is mixed you simply apply it and walk away. It gives a lovely flawless finish regardless of your level of skill (it can hide a lot).
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Wow! Ok...the good news is you are getting the ENTIRE floor sanded (including the treads) and refinished. Excellent! That's what is needed at this point. Now for the treads...MOST stair treads are RED oak. That MIGHT BE why the treads take the stain a little differently than the WHITE OAK flooring (make sense now doesn't it?). The Loba HS 2K ImpactOil is comparable to Rubio = oiled finish. Here's the link to the GERMAN website (not the USA...the European website is MUCH better for product information). https://www.loba.de/us/products/natural-oils-and-waxes/natural-oils/product/hs-2k-impactoil-color/ The ImpactOil is NOT compatible with the surface finishes like Invisible AT. Do not mix the two. Now...onto the colours. Loba makes their own stains. The original floors had "white line" syndrome = the finished had BONDING FAILURE throughout the home. That was the original problem (regardless of the flooding). The stain was INCOMPATIBLE with the FINISH (whatever the finish was). This is the very reason why you should NEVER mix chemical families (Loba + Loba = success; DuraSeal + DuraSeal = success). The ImpactOil is new(er) the the N. American market. The VERY FIRST THING I would ask the refinishers is: Have you attended the Loba training classes? You are looking for a 'yes' when it comes to both the Invisible and the ImpactOil. If you need support, Loba is just a phone call away. They have their N. American headquarters in N.Carolina.
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SJ McCarthy
3 years ago
OK...just remember oil based polys turn a strong orangey-yellow. And as they age they get stronger and stronger in tone. With Red Oak, that gets to be very strong colouring very very quickly. To tone down the red you need to work with a green-based colour range. Jacobean is the most common colour used to tone down red oak. It can be used on its own or in a special mix.

You will want to get the refinisher to offer sample patches for you. A well versed and well paid flooring professional will have no problem doing this for you. All you have to do is show a photo of the look you would like to achieve and then ask for several colour swatches (all with a coat of finish over top) so that you can choose your floor colour.

The good one's will make special mixes for you to view. I always like to see colour swatches created on a Friday so that you can take the weekend to view the colours in all 5 lighting situations.

Again, the oil based polys turn orange all by themselves. It will take very little stain to get your floors to look like the Rubio Black in your
gyk1
Original Author
3 years ago
SJ, thanks for all your great advice (here and on other threads as well).
Michelle Jackson
last year
last modified: last year
What did you end up choosing? We’re in the same situation and cant figure out a duraseal stain similar to Rubio Monocoat Black!

Closest Minwax color to Rubio Monocoat Black (not Charcoal)

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Closest Minwax color to Rubio Monocoat Black (not Charcoal)

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SJ McCarthy

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gyk1
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