Ciranova ? Pink Blocker can be used with any competitors brand stain. I have not experienced any issue. You do need to buff with a maroon pad prior to applying a stain with other manufacturer's WB PU. I have not applied any other WB except for Ciranova's own WB PU over Pink blocker. No time for experimenting. Pink Blocker is a reactive stain. It is water soluble. Ciranova has a binder in their invisible line finishes : Ecofix plus, Woodlook Plus and Oculto. It helps prevent reactivating the stain and moving the color around. Reactive stain can be applied after pink blocker. Still needs buffing with maroon pad. You can use the regular reactive stain on red oak. It will not be as intense as if, it was applied onto white oak. Aquavintage is a two part reactive stain. hardwax oil , oil poly or wb poly can be applied. If, using WB poly, use one of Ciranova's invisible poly. Ecofix for light natural colors. Woodlook for whites and grays and Oculto for dark tone reactive stains. It is water soluble, competitors WB PU will move finish around. If, you want a WB system that looks like a oil finish. Ciranova's invisible line is what you want. It will look as natural or raw as can be with the protection of a WB system. For added protection, you can do two coats of their invisible finish and two coats of Fortico. Fortico is comparable to Bona Traffic HD and Loba's Supra AT. You can top coat Ciranova's invisible finishes with competitors WB finishes. That will help keep cost down. Only downside, if, you run into issues. The tech support will not help you. Use your own discretion. Unico is the same as RMC. It's a single coat oil system with the added benefits of being able to apply a WB PU over it. It's soft, top coat with one coat of Titan or two coats of Fortico for the added protection. Titan is better than RMC. Note: every manufacturer alters their binders slightly in their finishes to make it unique. It creates issues with other manufacturers products. You would need to test samples to make sure there are no finishing issues. I have used Ciranova's reactive stain with RMC and Pallmann's oil with no issues. I have tried applying a competitors WB PU over Ciranova's reactive stain with no success. It moves the color around. But when used with Ciranova's invisible PU, no issues. You can apply dewaxed shellac over the reactive stain and apply a competitor's WB PU or just apply oil base poly. Keep in mind oil base poly will turn yellow. For aged look, it does not look good. If, you want the aged look use Ciranova. you won't be disappointed, unless your guy does not know how to use it. For a stained look, you can use any other brand. The colors are all the same, besides Duraseal, which has more colors available than anyone.

I think you are on the right track. The nice thing about starting with the glossy stuff is you will see the SHINIEST OF THE SHINY. You can then tone it down from there. The satin will look quite glossy in the first few weeks. But that will calm down. It's just something about the 'fresh' finish that keeps everything very 'fresh and shiny' for a little bit longer than you would expect. Relax and let the process happen. The Bona will take 5-7 days to cure...so take your time and view it (before moving back in) over several days. Take photos from the same spot (like a doorway) every time you visit. Visit at different times during the day to see it's sheen under different lighting situations. If, after 5 days or so you are GROSSLY unhappy, then now would be the time to discuss a coat of matte....before you move in. And by grossly unhappy I mean, "Hyperventilating, dizzy, nauseated at the very thought of what you've just done to your home".

If you are looking for a totally natural finish in something that will be extremely durable, I would go with Loba 2K Invisible AT. It has to be the "AT" version to be the most durable one. You can use this same product as the sealant and the top coats to lock in the wood's natural color. Search the Houzz archives for more information on how to use this method. Bona's most natural finishes are in the Naturale line, so if you aren't considering Naturale, then you'll need to do more research. It's not just the sheen but also the color that gives that natural look you want, and locking in the wood's natural color is important. Many finishes that aren't designed for that "invisible" or "natural" look will darken the wood too much for your liking. Any company that offers matte or extra matte finishes is achieving this as far as I know by adding light-scattering components to the finish. The more matte you get, the more cloudy the finish can look. Some people recommend using gloss for everything but the top coat to avoid this effect. Other people say to stick with the same finish throughout so repairs are easier. I would personally go for the Loba 2K Invisible AT for the best combination of performance and looks if a natural look is what you desire.

Hi everyone! We are doing a full home renovation and have red oak floors on one floor of the house and white oak on the other floor. We are trying to get the floors to look as close in color as possible. I’ve seen a few threads and articles about using Bona Nordic Seal, Traffic HD Poly, and some mention using a country white stain (I think duraseal makes country white, and Bona just makes a “white”)- did any of you have the issue of two different woods and if so, did you do the same number of coats/combination of seals and stains on both floors? Or did you stain the red oak to dull the pink while leaving the white oak natural? We are going to sample some of the combos in the house to see before we decide but wanted to see what worked for others. Thank you!