tung oil

Eco-Friendly Tung Oil for an Excellent Wood Protection

Tung oil is a well-known natural drying oil that you can use on your fine wood furnishings. You can add it to pine tar to give the wood structure an excellent appearance. When it comes to durability, it surpasses shellac. It’s harder and more water-resistant. 

tung oil

How Long Will It Take for Tung Oil to Dry? 

It takes up to three days to harden it. That’s why it’s ideal to apply it to the wood during warm weather. In that way, it’ll be easier for the surface to dry. You also need to apply at least five coats for better results. 

Should You Choose Pure Tung Oil

Pure tung oil is one type of wood finish. Just like any other type, it’s durable, water-resistant and its color is stable. It has no solvents so it’s ideal if you want to reduce your exposure to VOCs. However, it takes up to three days for it to harden. In that case, if you apply for one coat today, you’ll have to wait after three days to apply for another coat. In that case, it takes more than a week to give your wooden structure an excellent protective film. When it comes to painting this finish, you must avoid rushing the process. It’s also not a good idea to apply a thick coating. The reason for this is that it will cause wrinkling. And if you notice wrinkling in the process, you need to sand it off. You also need to re-apply once a year, depending on the desired outcome. On the other hand, if you don’t have the time to wait that long, you may choose an oil or varnish tung oil blend. It can speed up the drying times. In this way, the application will be less fussy. Varnish tung oil has been thinned enough that it’ll be easier to apply it on wood. However, it’s still durable though. But many homeowners still prefer the use of pure tung oil. 

Mixing Tung Oil with Pine Tar

You may mix tung oil with pine tar to quicken the drying times. It also eliminates stickiness. When you choose a pine tar finish to protect wooden structures, you need to add tung oil or linseed oil to dilute this liquid. Keep in mind that pine tar is so sticky that it’ll be difficult to work on it. Mixing these two products will give you a perfect-looking wooden structure. But before you can achieve that, you need to clean the wood first. Then, dry it completely. Sand it before applying the finish. If the wood is still wet when you apply the mixture, the result will be undesirable. Also, the wood won’t get the proper protection from tung oil and pine tar. The reason for this is that the mixture can’t penetrate deeply into the wood if it’s still wet. Also, it locks in the moisture causing the wood to rot slowly. In other words, it cancels out the benefit of pine tar and tung oil. To know more about tung oil, please read our other posts on our blog. If you’re not sure how to buy it, please call us at (818) 308-8430