Both an oil rub like Danish oil and oil-containing varnishes like Waterlox or solvent-based clear coats will yellow your wood, though the mechanisms are a little different. Those finishes with a high oil component go on with an orange to yellow tint depending if they are based on linseed or tung oil. The solvent-based clear coats may go on clear and then take a few years to yellow. If you want a bleached, Scandanavian-style wood, you'll definitely need a waterborne finish as well as some bleaching prior to the top coats. Some woods respond better to the process than others. White oak is a popular base wood for a bleached look.

Bleaching will lighten the wood. If, it is yellow. It will make it less or eliminate it. Having white oak means that you can skip the bleaching process. Nordicseal is a good product for white washing. Since, it is also a sealer, it will block any tannins from bleeding through prevent the yellow. Also, if, you use a water base poly, the water base poly will prevent the yellowing. If, you use an oil base, then expect yellowing to occur. You can also use a stain mixture for white washing. But, you will need to apply a sealer to prevent tannins from bleeding through.

We finished our #2 grade red oak installation stained with Rubio monocoat smoke 5%. Here is a photo with the unfinished #2 red oak on left and the 25 year old dining room floor (smaller planks) on right. Overall, I love the smoked effect of the Rubio! I do regret not getting something a bit more dramatic in color though like a white or a darker brown. The redder planks of oak still look pinkish. I thought that the green of the 5% smoke would soften the pink. We will be installing the same oak in the other sitting room and kitchen and I would like to try a whiter shade or a darker shade to try and mask some of the pink. (I didn't waterpop and maybe that could have added a more opaque effect from the smoke 6%). Advice please: I bought UMO to add the extra level of protection and sheen. Tomorrow will be the 36hr curing time from the smoke 5% 2c to apply UMO. Should I just save the UMO for when we do the other rooms in a year or so? Is is possible to blend this smoke 5% floor with a new floor done with a different shade (a whiter or more medium brown shade)? Can a new shade be applied over this smoke 5% or should the floor be sanded? Thanks!

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.