This is my first time using tung oil. . .
This is my first time using tung oil, so there was a bit of a learning curve. We decided to use the Half and Half tung oil for our new walnut flooring after ordering a sample and testing it on a piece of the flooring. We have about 1400 SF of walnut flooring. The orders arrived very quickly, typically in about 3 days. Over 2 orders, we purchased 7 gallons of H&H and one gallon of citrus-based solvent. As mentioned, this was our first time using tung oil, so we purchased 4 gallons of the H&H. We applied it as indicated in the website instruction and Q&As. . . or, so we thought. After applying 3 coats of the straight H&H around Thanksgiving, the floor looked shiny, which meant we had enough oil on it. However, we noticed the floor was getting lighter each day after a few days. Also, water was not beading up on the floor. Well, guess we didn't put enough oil on it! So, we ordered 3 gallons of H&H and 1 gallon of solvent. I worked on reapplying the oil between Christmas and New Year's but decided to cut the H&H by 25% with additional solvent to help it penetrate. That did the trick! All totaled, we applied around 8 coats in addition to lots of "spot" treatments on areas that were absorbing more oil than the surrounding area. It's been about 3 weeks since we finished the final section of the flooring. The color/tint of the walnut has remained the same. More importantly, the water is beading up and not being absorbed into the wood, which creates water spots on the flooring. One other tidbit is I started with a foam roller. For the second application, I changed to a painting pad meant for stain application on decking. I like how I had better control over the application. It also seemed to go into the wood better because I was scrubbing it in. That probably wasn't the case, and the thinner mix of tung oil helped with the penetration. Overall, we're very pleased with how it turned out. Our friends have commented on how beautiful and rich the floor looks.