I have 4-yr.-old Brazil cherry factory-treated hardwood floors. Can I use Osmo Polyx Oil on them? I want shiny but not slippery.

Dear Joan,

When you describe your floors as factory-treated, I am led to believe that they are a pre-finished engineered floor product (three to ten layers [plies] of real wood glued in a cross-ply construction with the top layer being a decorative veneer).

Further, when you ask the question “Can I use Osmo Polyx Oil on them?” I am assuming you mean can you refinish the floor, in its entirety, with the product -- not just do spot treatments.  (You cannot spot-repair your existing finished floor with the Polyx Oil.)

Based on these two assumptions, here are two caveats as you consider refinishing a pre-finished hardwood floor:

1. Although the overall board thickness may be 1/4” to 3/4”, the decorative veneer has a dimensional thickness of 1/16”-3/8”, depending on quality – thicker being higher quality. Therefore, significant care must be taken when sanding off the existing finish so as not to expose the non-decorative plies.
2. The edges of the individual boards are beveled (not so with solid pre-finished floors) which requires time and patience to sand off the existing finish.

Osmo Polyx Oil is a wonderful nontoxic finish product in many ways, including durability, low-VOC, ease in application and the ability to perform spot repairs.  

Several notes about wood floor refinishing with this product:

• Osmo Polyx Oil only comes in one finish -- satin. A satin finish has many advantages over a shiny finish -- it will not highlight scratches or traffic marks nor show dust particles and hair as much as a shiny finish will.
• Properly maintained, a refinished floor should not be slippery.
• It is very important to thoroughly vacuum the floor after sanding to ensure dust particles will not get trapped in the Osmo Polyx Oil finish, which can give the finish a dull appearance.
• OSMO NA, the importer of the product, recommends that Brazilian Cherry (also known as Jatoba) be “degreased” after sanding and before refinishing with Osmo Thinner.

For more information:

Read Victoria Schomer's tips article "Make Floor Refinishing Greener and Safer."