Just how good are Magic Oils and 2k lacquers at protecting from stains?
Wood Floor Refinishing - Which is better?
A question we understandably get asked is how good are the finishes at protecting from stains?
Here’s some information on a few types products that can be used to finish your floors.
There are various different ways to finish (protect) your wood floors. Some of which are Magic Oils, Hardwax oils, 1 component lacquers and 2 component lacquers.
As a company we tend to prefer magic oils and 2 component lacquers (2k).
The magic oil is popular with us and many of our clients. This is due to the ease of use, speedy full cure time, the ability to repair and re-oil as well as the overall look of an oiled floor.
2k lacquers are also extremely popular, compared to the 1 component lacquers
The 2k lacquers tend to have a faster full mechanical and chemical cure time. They provide a much stronger more durable finish and can come in matte, semi gloss and gloss.
These lacquers are what you will normally find at the sports halls, restaurant and other high traffic areas, so as you can imagine they will provide a very long lasting, easy to clean protection in a domestic setting.
So with Magic Oil and 2k lacquers being our most popular, the question we get asked is: which is better for stains?
To answer the question, which is better, we put this little test together.
Here we have 2 pieces of 6mm engineered oak left from a recent restoration.
The top board of oak has been treated with the popular Magic oil ergo 2k. The other board primed with Pall x325 primer and 2 coats of pall x98 matte 2k lacquer
We applied some typical stains you would expect to get spilt on floors at home.
Hot strong black coffee, water and red wine on both boards.
On the magic oil board it is noticeable that the liquids sits as a bead on the surface, and on the lacquer it is spread over the board a little more.
These stains we left for just over 12hrs. We then wiped off with a kitchen towel.
You can see that once wiped away the magic oil board has some darker spots where the liquids had been applied, the remaining moisture will evaporate and dry with the full colour returning.
We then mixed up some of the neutral cleaner (we provide this too all of our customers as part of our after care), gave both boards a little spray and wipe, and left a short while to dry.
Both of the finishes have performed brilliantly to the test.
No damage to either of the boards at all with no stand out winner from this test.
Just to note, any liquid, regardless of the finish of the floor, will eventually fail.
It is always recommended to clean up and spills straight away, however this test can give us some confidence that they are both well up to the job.