Linseed oil residue

[timdavis@activ8]

I have just finished sanding 120sq.metres of old Baltic Pine flooring. Owner insisted on using "Bio Floor Varnish" against my better wishes. I normally use solvent based 2-pack and single pack satin top coats or other oil/wax combos, but never this stuff. Anyway the Bio system recommended priming with their primer which looked and smelt like plain old linseed oil. Folllowed instructions and applied as thin a coat as I could but didn't wipe off excess, instuctions where ambiguous on this point. It is impossible to wipe down an entire house floor without walking on wet coating, so I didn't. The priming oil has failed to soak completely into the pine and left a tacky residue after weekend drying time. Does anybody know how to remove this residue bearing in mind this is a very large area.
I can feel a $4000 minor disaster approaching HELP!!!!!
ps. The actual varnish (as opposed to the primer) is a Rosin (not resin) and tung oil formulae and I assume the primer excess/residue must be removed before application.

[orraloon]

Tim,
First welcome to the forum.
Sounds like you have a big job on you'r hands. I am sorry to say that the tacky oil has to be removed as nothing else is going to stick to it. Turps will soften it and wipe off with rags.(This is what I would do for linseed oil but you'r product may have other stuff in it so see what the instructions say about thinning and clean up first.) You may need a scrubbing brush or scowrer to move the gunk then wipe off with a rag. It will be a lot of work and will best be done a small area at a time. I would also be contacting the supplier of the product for information and or an explaination as to why this went wrong when you followed the instructions. The normal go with oils is to apply leave a few mins to soak in then wipe off the excess. The first coat is ofted thinned with turps to assist in soaking in.
You will need good ventilation also, for you'r health and to help with the drying.
I hope this is some help as I can imagine the scale of the task ahead.
Regards
John

[timdavis@activ8]

Thanks orraloon for welcome and speedy reply.
I thought there may have been some way of avoiding heavy scrubbing/scouring but I fear not.
In actual fact I have already started in one room by mopping with kero then running a 16 inch scourer pad on a rotary sanding and buffing machine over the surface. This works fairly well but pads clog very quickly; used 3 pads over 20 sq. metres. Kero dries quickly after scouring and most of the oil residue is removed. I will try terps instead once the box of 20 scourers arrives from the suppliers. Still a big job and edges and corners will have to be done by hand, can't wait.
I would still appreciate anyone else's advice/opinion.
Thanks.

[Evan Pavlidis]

Thanks orraloon for welcome and speedy reply.
I thought there may have been some way of avoiding heavy scrubbing/scouring but I fear not.
In actual fact I have already started in one room by mopping with kero then running a 16 inch scourer pad on a rotary sanding and buffing machine over the surface. This works fairly well but pads clog very quickly; used 3 pads over 20 sq. metres. Kero dries quickly after scouring and most of the oil residue is removed. I will try terps instead once the box of 20 scourers arrives from the suppliers. Still a big job and edges and corners will have to be done by hand, can't wait.
I would still appreciate anyone else's advice/opinion.
Thanks.


Very easy Timdavis; you can wipe it down with a lambswool applicator, the one used for applying floor finishes by soaking in turps and rubbing hard until the tackiness disappears. You'll need a fair bit of turps for the area you described placed in a paint roller trough. I did exactly the same thing when I applied tung oil on our new flooring and worked out very well.
I don't recommend using a sander until the coating is completely dry; it will be much harder do get a consistent finish.

P.S. Do not wear any footware or socks when doing this; go barefoot.

Cheers,
Evan