What’s the difference between one cyclops and another?

Truth be told, the myriad finishes on the market over the past 75 years or so are all utilizing the same basic technology, designed to line the pockets of finish manufacturers but not to deliver optimum results, durability, or safety.

What is that technology?  

Polyurethane and the chemistry of a urethane bond.

Does polyurethane provide durability? 

Rather than durability, we posit that polyurethane provides planned obsolescence.  Here at Odysseus Cornwall’s Outstanding Oils & Waxes, aka Odie’s Oil, one of our mottos is, “Planned obsolescence is unethical.”  Suppose you were to buy a new car, and the car company sold you a coating designed to require you to repaint your vehicle over a relatively short period of time.  Would you consider that unethical, or even worse than unethical?  

 

 

Does polyurethane actually ruin wood floors?  

Well, at one level, no, because it is removable.  At another level (in total), yes, because every time it is removed by sanding, it wears down the floor a bit, shortening the life of the floors.  Hardwood floors should last the life of the building and not need replacement.  Unfortunately, the manufacturing sector of the industry has opted to incorporate planned obsolescence into many of the flooring options, whether it involves the floor planks themselves (such as "engineered hand-scraped") or the finish options provided.  We’ve become so accustomed to the disposable culture that we have forgotten our roots and the value of posterity.   If you live in New England or a similar place, you know the value of homes and other buildings dating all the way back to the 1600s.  With the high cost of building materials these days and the supposed scarcity of resources, it is all the more important that things are made to last and not destined for the landfill in a relatively short time.

 

Why do urethane bond-dependent finishes fail and not last?

The reason for failure lies in the very aspect that polyurethane pushers promote as its strength.  The problem is that it’s not a strength, it’s a fatal flaw.  The reason for this is that urethane creates a film layer on the surface.  That film requires a scratch pattern to grab onto, and that bond will eventually break due to normal usage (abrasion) and chemical and microbial deterioration.  Such finish layers, whether they are "enhanced" with ceramic, aluminum oxide, graphene, or some other addition, are a separate surface layer with minimal integration into the wood itself.

 

Can you go into detail why the urethane bond finishing paradigm is illogical and detrimental from the perspective of professional on-site finishers and consumers alike:

• The cost of material per square foot for professionals isn’t insignificant;
• The cost of application for consumers, including having to leave the home or building and stay with friends, family, or a hotel;
• Toxicity both during application, clean-up, drying, curing, and over the years of use and natural abrasion, as isocyanate and many other ingredients remain a health concern;
• Contaminates landfills when disposed of;
• Noxious smell, and poisonous fumes, whether aromatic or de-aromatized
• Fire/combustion risk
• Lack of enhancement to wood (doesn’t stabilize, doesn’t extend the life of wood)
• Potential application failures and defects include

            - overlap

            -orange peel

            - trapped dust and dirt, pitting

           -uneven application and resultant thickness

           -moisture discoloration appears as milky beneath the surface layer

• Yellowing
• Unnatural white plastic scratches
• De-lamination
• Microbial and chemical breakdown of the finish coating
• The need to re-sand the floor every few years, leading to the need for floor replacement in the distant future
• Doesn’t prevent movement of floor planks, doesn’t offer any additional stabilization
• Doesn’t permit spot repair of damaged planks as it will never match
• Repairs are difficult and costly to address
• Limited sheen level options from brand to brand
• Requires a pre-stain step if color is specified.

 

What are the weaknesses of Odie’s Oil, the true oil finish, also known as the Structural Finish or the Stabilizing Finish?:

You would expect there to be some weaknesses, but amazingly, there aren’t any inherent in this product which is at the pinnacle of the superior finish modality it exemplifies.  So answer your question:

• None of the above-listed urethane finish weaknesses
• Some installers complicate the process by failing to follow our simple instructions. The most common mistake made is applying too much Odie's Oil to the surface and failing to buff it all off after application.  However, excess finish on the surface can be corrected easily.

 

Occasionally, we have seen installers utilize chemical-based pre-stains, Japan dryers, and things like that in conjunction with our finish, and thats a big mistake because they simply serve to mess up the job, contaminate the natural non-toxic nature of our product.  Plus, any other material put down beneath our product simply serves as weak link and disrupts the molecular cross linking and integration of our product into the wood structure.

In comparison, what are the strengths of Odie’s Oil finish products?:

In counterpoint to the weaknesses of urethane bond dependent finishes such as all polyurethanes and Euro hard wax oils which are essentially hybrid polyurethanes in disguise - let’s look at the strengths of Odie’s Oil so that there is no confusion or questions.:

• Lower cost of material per square foot - just 21 cents on average
• Property owners can (if applied properly) remain on the premises while Odie’s Oil is applied.
• Since there are no toxic chemicals or noxious fumes (neither aromatic or de-aromatized), the air is completely safe to breathe during and after application.
• One application is all that is needed, while multiple applications can be done, for durability there’s no need for multiple “coats”
• No exposure risks, no toxicity to applicator or consumers ever
• Environmentally benign from cradle to grave - no pollutants at all even during production at our factory!
• Smells like an EO spa, Odie’s contains therapeutic essential oils
• Stabilizes wood, reducing movement by around 90%, eliminating a key risk factor (movement) and the resulting call-backs.   A contractors' biggest fear is movement and the resultant claims.  Odie's offers flooring professionals a huge financial benefit by eliminating the most feared risk factor.  
• No ambient air combustion risk with Odie's Oil. Just don’t leave oil-soaked rags lying around.  As with any finish rags put them in a fire-proof container because all oils are oxygen scavengers.
• Odie’s Oil is a structural enhancement for wood, making it stronger, more resilient, water- and chemical-proof, more resistant to abrasion, and longer-lasting.
• No overlapping, no orange peel, no uneven waves - no risk of varying thickness as it is not a layer on top but an internal enhancement of the wood; no discoloration from trapped moisture; no bubbles; no dust or dirt contamination on the finished surfaces; no paneling. 
• Odie’s waterproof floors while still letting it breathe…
• No yellowing over time nor via sun or light exposure 
• Floors can be spot repaired, individual planks changed out any time in the future without having to re-sand the entire floor
• No sanding limits
• No unsightly white plastic scratches from dragging furniture, dog nails, or kids toys.
• Can’t delaminate, chip, flake, or peel off because it is not a film layer
• Won’t display an unsightly breakdown by chemical cleaners or natural microbial exposure
• No need to ever re-sand the floor again!  Just buff more on and off if desired, years and years after the initial application. 
• Odie’s lasts many-many times longer than any other finish, equating to lower overall costs as well as greater convenience to property owners.
• Achieve any sheen level with ease
• Coloring floors and finishing is an easy single-step process with Odie’s Oil. Just mix our creative color mineral pigments into the oil and apply in one easy step to color and finish the floor.
• Easily adjust your color in either direction after it is applied.  Infinite color adjustment.  We all know how often clients change their mind. With Odie’s system, it’s not a problem.
• Our color system offers you unlimited color options, ranging from transparent to opaque, and they will never fade due to UV exposure.

 

To wrap it up, can you explain why polyurethane became the leading finish modality?  How did it become the leading finish paradigm?

There are a few factors involved in this sad situation:

First, it’s a matter of corporate culture at the level of finish manufacturers.  You have to realize they are essentially chemical companies and they are being treated in a way as satellites of the chemical giants.  They sell a ready made ingredient deck or base blend, and then the brands make small rather insignificant variants by adding one oil or another, or some other additional chemistry.

 

When a manufacturer sells what would otherwise be toxic waste for exorbitant prices, they net tremendous profits that give them plenty of money to mess with the minds of the masses, create a false reality and norm, propagandize, set "the industry standards", and run dirty tactics against any competing paradigms.  For example, we at Odie’s Oil can replicate leading European Hard-wax Oil formulations for a fraction of their selling prices.  We can manufacture their product for around seven dollars per unit, while those products are sold to flooring professionals for $170 to $250 per unit!  And in addition, the comparative coverage metrics also reveal their excess profiteering. 

 

We could make giant margins like they do, but we choose not to take advantage of people nor to miseducate and misdirect the industry.  We refuse to profiteer by peddling planned obsolescence, selling toxic production waste byproducts, and reaping huge financial benefits from the misfortune of consumers, contractors, and the global environment.

 

When a company manufactures products with planned obsolescence in mind, they not only rob their customers but profit repeatedly by assuring replacement purchases.  We at Odysseus Cornwall’s Outstanding Oils & Waxes®, also known as Odie’s® Oil, believe that planned obsolescence is immoral and unethical.

 

            When you generate so much profit that you can actually fund associations to promote your paradigm, you can establish it as an industry standard and enshrine it in industry guidelines.The finish coatings industry is no different from any other in this regard, and the associations supporting each industry are simply doing their jobs, working with what is available to them, hence they often unknowingly support unwholesome paradigms.  After decades of experience in such a business, when they finally realize the truth, it’s already too late for them to take a high ground; instead, they opt to support whatever is there, good or bad.  They feel forced to take a neutral stance as their very survival seems to depend on it.  So, this is how bad paradigms get institutionalized. 

 

Educators, in every realm and venue, simply pass along what they think are the facts, and government agencies, specifiers, and news media all follow along with little awareness of the underlying history and real facts of the matter - again, in whatever field it may be.  Why else would government agencies specify obsolete and destined-to-fail finish coating on historic restoration projects?  Miseducation becomes endemic, and the result is everyone suffers.  It would be far better (in an ideal world) to somehow lead any such industry into more sustainable, honest, and logical paradigms.

 

Readers of our message have the opportunity to examine the physical evidence, as there is finally something to compare the existing unwholesome paradigm to, and that something in the finish and wood products industry is Odie’s Oil.  The physical results, circumstances, and evidence don’t lie.  The evidence speaks for itself.:

 

People do get sick from polyurethane finishes whether they are “green or not”; 

Euro Hard-wax Oils are in fact film forming urethane bond finishes nearly just as much as any water based or oil based polyurethane; 

Film forming finishes of every ilk are urethane bond finishes and they all ultimately fail.  

 

Considering these facts and the pros and cons listed above, why would any finishing professional continue to use urethane bond containing finishes instead of Odie’s Oil?

Hopefully, flooring contractors and pre-finished wood floor manufacturers will wake up to these facts and make the switch for the good of all.  They will enjoy more profits instead of giving them to the poison pushers, and they will deliver a better product to their customers while enjoying far less headaches.  And let’s not forget how sustainable the use of the Odie’s Oil paradigm will be for property owners, tenants, and the environment itself.