I think the warmth of natural wood will always be in style but can see that the old poly (more than likely oil based) is super orange. I did read that maintaining a white floor is just as hard to keep clean than a dark floor, shows every speck of dirt. It's also a possibility that the older pine boards will absorb the stain differently, so kind of a risky thing not knowing how different it could look. I would stick with Bona Naturale for a toned down, matte look. It is a water based product which does not turn orange over time.

It's also somewhat less expensive of a procedure if not applying both a stain and a sealer. I also think a natural looking wood floor is easier to maintain, hides dust and holds it value for resale.

https://media.remodelista.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/jersey-ice-cream-co-rockport-maine-remodel-upstairs-hall-16-1466x2199.jpg 

Thank you, appreciate the thoughts! That link didn't work FYI but I tracked the general link for that house down: https://www.remodelista.com/posts/jersey-ice-cream-co-maine-new-house-overhaul-with-glam-eat-in-kitchen/

And yes, the debate really is how the pine grain will show, absorb, etc. We will be doing sealer but looking at a matte finish. We shall see! Your feedback is much. appreciated.

Well, that was loaded with dismissiveness and derision but I guess that's how you roll.

Again, it's not about being faddish or of a style - I was just using that as design shorthand and we just like flat-out like the lightness and actively don't like the orange. We've got lots of nice color, textures, art and other things going on. But I appreciate the practical advice. We're definitely aware of the issues and risks and weighing them as well as trying to gather practical advice to decide if we proceed or leave as is.

The floors are beautiful! Classic! Why would you want to replace them all? I was around the first time bleached floors were a thing. It didn’t have any staying lower because it was too hard to take care of.

Since you "actively don't like" the orange of 100+ year old pine floors, you are never going to be happy doing any of the things that would preserve their integrity. So feel free to do what you want.

Those of us who appreciate those floors see what you are doing as a "re-muddle" rather than a remodel. And that's why you are being encourage to reconsider trying to make them "white".

With those vintage floors, I would almost rather see you remove them, sell them to someone who will repurpose them (even re-installing in someone else's home) and then buy what you want, rather than staining them white. But that's just me.

I will let the flooring pros weigh in on whether you could just remove the (probably oil based) poly and go with a water-borne finish, which would reduce (not eliminate) the orange-ness of the pine.

Here is whitewashed pine after a few years. It’s my guest room furniture, with a very slight bit of smoke damage from a candle accident from my SIL. . The amber comes through. It doesn’t stay light. Wood changes color as it ages, no matter what you do to it. If you want white, you have to replace all of your floors. Not with pine. Not with oak. Or hickory. Because they also amber as they age. Maple would be good, as it ambers less. Or laminate. Laminate ambers less. But it’s plastic coated so it still changes color as it ages too. Same with vinyl. Aged vinyl yellows slightly.

You’d be remuddling a Victorian. Too few of them with too few original features still exist already.

I, too, fall into the conservation camp. Would changing to a matte finish such as in the photo be less harmful to the wood? I sort of picture removing the finish without removing the wood - I think it's called screening or screeding? I don't know what kind of wood is in the photo, but probably not pine.

When the bleach dries, have the finisher apply Nordicseal on it. Make your decision then.

My bad in that I forgot this was the Internet and that instead of getting an answer to the question I asked I was insulted and disparaged. Weird choice you disrespectful people each made but so be it. I'll be posting a picture of the original fireplace we did away with just to further mess with you. Will also be showing up at each of your doors to weigh in on various choices you've made, both design-related and otherwise, neither of which you've asked me about, shortly whether you want me to or not.

To those of you who engaged with the actual question I asked, even if you were advocating for leaving the floor for practical reasons, e.g. the boards are only so thick, thank you.

I've no problem with people having different subjective opinions (it's what makes the world interesting after all), just don't understand the need you felt to insult. But again, to each their own.

Good luck with your project. Since you know the internet so well maybe you need to develop a thicker skin and learn to scroll past answers that you not want to read and or answer your question rather than play the troll game on the backend.

Again, so weird to me. Your admonishment is for the person who was insulted by the insult rather than the other way 'round, i.e. the person who used their time and then mine and yours too making it personal and being dismissive. Again, thanks to those with helpful commentary.

Apparently people have strong feelings about preservation but to each their own, it is wrong to attack you for your choices rather than debate the pro's and con's. Glad you are taking the time to do research and hope your happy with whatever you choose!

Thanks for asking this question! I am currently exploring options on how to make old pine floors lighter and less orange and I am looking into nordic seal and bleach. I also want a low-voc option so I might be looking for a unicorn. Did you decide on something already? And would you be able to post photos? I am very curious to see the final effect! (I am an architectural historian so please don't waste your time on schooling me what should or shouldn't be done in an old house, you don't need to preserve every detail of the house respect its history as long as you have a vision for it; I am very eager to read advice showing practical knowledge, not a page-long comment with someone's ideas on what "scandinavian design" is).

I don't think people are insulting you. Take or not take their advice, it's based in their experience with wood floors and personal taste and preference. Not personal to you.

I had the same problem with my pine wood floors. Didn't like the look of the poly with its tone but learned to live with it. It's expensive to treat wood floors and I had trouble finding a good person to work with redoing mine. Then, with the downstairs flooring, while waiting for the several floor refinishers to call me back, I had an epiphany . . . wax. Ye olde Johnson's paste wax. Rub it on, buff, happy for the rest of the year. It's just as good as the poly, and doesn't have to be sanded off if there's something you don't like about it. That was how they did it in the old days and it ain't broke IMHO and it ain't in need of fixing. So much easier and warmer, even than the low shine poly finishes. I had poly upstairs and wax downstairs. Much preferred the wax . . .

Mind you I'm no perfectionist and didn't have dogs.

I'm not an expert. We do have 150 to 125 year old Victorian farmhouse. In my experience, waterbase no amber sealer will still amber. What I mean is the wood still changes. We used amber poly in oldest refinish and water based no amber in the addition with special glaze for uv windows. Like cherry wood, I swear they still changed. I'm not sure it's worth losing material on the boards to see it happen anyway. I hope that helps some.

There are species of wood that are known to have High tannin content. Refinishing does not remove the risk of tannin pull. Soft woods, maple and white oak are known to change colour with clear poly.

Hi @H J

We’re trying to get the same white washed look on pine floors too! Its surprising how hard it is to find pictures of nordicseal on pine. I’m leaning towards nordicseal and traffic hd satin but am wondering if we should bleach with wood lye first to try to counteract the yellowing. Any advice or pictures would be much appreciated!

Hello! I am on the same page as you - have orange pine floors, same dislike towards the orange and thus far I’ve bleached them myself. I was researching what Nordicseal looks like on pine and came across your post.

What did you end to doing? Do you have photos?

Here is my bleach result so far - it’s pretty light and eliminated a lot of the yellow and pink (though not all and that’s ok), but I think I still need to seal it with something white or else it won’t be cool / white enough when finished.

Several coats of bleach applied. A little bit of the white currently on it is residue from the bleach