Oil stain on baltic pine

OK, this is strictly speaking a renovation question, and has been posted on that forum also, but i thought you guys might come up with some more 'sensitive' options. I have a baltic pine floor in the 1880s cottage I am restoring and it has an oil stain in the middle of it. I left clay-based cat litter on it for several months in the hopes that would draw the oil out of the timber, but so far no luck. I have recently scrubbed the floor with oxalic acid to clean it and now the stain stands out quite a bit.

Any suggestions as to how I can get the oil out of the timber - or do I have have to put a bit of furniture over it to hide it?

Here's a pic so you can see how big it is...

http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/e...edroom/004.jpg

Suspect it may be cooking oil or fat from a fry-up as there was an oven in this room when I bought the place

Maybe acetone some people use it to clean glue off. Or you could sand it if it hasn't soaked in already.

It has been there for years, so will be well-soaked in. Will give acetone a go - thanks Bupton.

Good luck in trying to get the stain out and you might, but and perhaps to look at this from a different perspective, you have an 1880s baltic pine floored cottage, not a 2010 hardwood or radiata pine floor, so, perhaps the alternative is to accept that it has the stain, and undoubtedly other marks, bumps, scratches etc and consider it as antique flooring and therefore part of the patina of the floor.

If it were me, I would only give the floor the lightest of sanding, so as not to loose the patina, apply a couple of coats of shellac (to improve the colour and feed the wood), allowed to dry, lightly sand off, and then coat with 3 coats of tung oil, lightly sanding in between the coats. This way you will bring the colour of the floor to life, keep its age intact and at the same time adequately protect the floor from general wear and tear. The beauty with this approach is when you do need to eventually recoat, basically all that would be required is a light sanding and then re-coat with another coat or two of Tung Oil.

Please don't use polyurethane on the baltic as it is the wrong finish for such aged timbers.

Hi Horsecroft, that is why I referred the question to this forum. The other lot wanted me to attack it with a belt-sander. :o

Personally I just want to feather off the edges of the irregular staining, with a hand-sanding block, then wash a little stain over the blonde timber to reduce the contrast between the bits of floor previously stained, and those that were under the counter and cupboards (at least that is what I conclude these strange markings mean on the floor - it was once a butchers shop but I had previously assumed all that activity had been carried on in the lean-to out the side). I was more concerned about the impact the stain might have on any finish I apply. I am planning on Feast Watson floor sealant which is a tung oil base. But I suspect a few more rinsings will be necessary to remove the film of dirt that is still clinging to it.

I particularly like the heads of the hand-made nails that have rounded off over the years and the various dents and lines where fittings stood for many years. I am basically treating the place like a piece of antique furniture as much as is practicable.

I have also maintained a photographic record of the work to date, a copy of which will be donated to the local historical society, along with a full set of the wall-paper samples I have removed. I will retain a similar record, in archival quality storage, here at the house.

This really is restoration, definitely not renovation. I have just this morning built a replacement window sill from scratch as the other had rotted out completely. Same profile, same dimensions, but retaining the modern mill stamp and undercoated all round so the next lot along can see it is new work.:2tsup:

Blackcat, hey mate great to see, you and I are alike in this thinking. I am finising off the restoration of my 1840s home and have commenced the restoration of our 1826 farmhouse. So I know all too well about what you are talking of, including the handmade nails, the previous uses, and the need to retain the historical architectural integrity of the house.

Hope my comments therefore made sense, and yes I too have used the Feast Watson floor seal to great effect in our current home. I think if you can remove sufficient of the oil, you shouldn't have any real issue with the Tung oil coating.

Our 1826 house has either baltic flooring (ie. in the hall) or hardwood/blackwood butt jointed pitsawn wide boards. Quite frankly to sand them smooth with a belt sander would have been sacrilige. I love the fact that they are not all smooth, that they show some cupping in places, and have all the products of history. Ditto the cedar doors, architraves etc, carry this sense of time past.

In restoring, we salvage old timbers from wherever we can and with the help of a sympathetic builder are integrating these timbers into the house, to ensure that it is done correctly, looks nice but at the same time is practical to use.

The retaining of the wallpapers, to document the restoration of your property is excellent. So few people do this. I have done quite a bit of research on our country property, from national archives, local sources etc. It has a lot of history and would be one of the oldest continually lived in homes in the country.

Enjoy the restoration, the results speak volumes for all the hard efforts when you stand back and can admire what you will have achieved.

It is fun. I am also a heritage professional so for me it is a chance to apply in practice a lot of the advice i have offered in the past which has been rejected as impractical or evidence I have my head in the clouds. So it has been an interesting exercise from many standpoints. At present my priority is getting one room fit to move into so I don't get to spend a second winter in the caravan, but I reckon I will get things sorted within the month so that should be good.

I have a great timberyard that stocks lots of species of timbers essential for this sort of thing, and when mouldings are not necessarily available, I can sometimes run them on the router. Our local Men's Shed plans to acquire a thicknesser and edger which will make a very positive contribution to the counter-tops I am making for the kitchen from recycled timbers that came out of the lean-to I had to demolish out the back.

It's all good fun, and a chance to really get my hands dirty rather than sit at a desk and theorise, lol. Our local heritage adviser is coming out on Friday so we can chat about what I have discovered and see what we can figure out from what we know of the history of the place.

I was preaching to the converted then :D:2tsup:, It most certainly is good to get your hands dirty and to get stuck in to some serious restoration work.

I can't imagine living in the caravan, especially when your home sounds like it is going to be so nice. Luckily for us, we have our home to live in while we restore the farmhouse. The only room that we have finished (well almost) is the bathroom, am waiting on the plumber to come back and plumb in the vanity, the restored claw and ball bath and get the hotwater connected. We now are working on the main bedroom, hall and front lounge. Am waiting for the builder to come back to rebuild the kitchen and then at that stage the house would be habitable. At the moment it is a complete building site. And then there are the grounds to be restored. So far just some avenue planting, commencement of shelterbelts, and starting the olive grove. Oh and then there are the barns, (stone and timber ones), sheep fold etc. So many years ahead of us to go.

Living in one room while you get on with another I have been through before with home, though without a caravan. Just had to seal off rooms from the dust, and/or live with the mess. It was a journey for sure. :D

Being a heritage consultant would most definitely have its advantages. I have just learnt from observation, what I have read and put into practice, and Adult Ed classes. I also restore and collect antiques for fun.

Horsecroft is permanently registered on the Tasmanian Heritage Register, the Sorell Council listing, and was nominated for National Estate listing due to its rural significance etc. So the need to be really careful and to restore it to the highest standards to me is imperative.

All the skills I have learnt including french polishing, solid plastering, rebuilding fireplaces, drystone walling etc, are going to be put to full use on this one. I have left the timber construction work to my builder but am active in the design and choice of which timbers to use, though suspect that I will increasingly become more involved in this aspect as the wifey is keen to be more involved. She certainly has become an expert in stripping paint off the joinery, which saves me a heap of time and hard work.

I am not sure if there is a Mens Shed in our area, but it sure sounds as though it could be really helpful and good moral support.

Might also have to do as you are re getting the heritage officer out some time to have a look at the work we are doing and further advice. All the best. Regards Dave

Where is Horsecroft then? My house is not listed (but IMO should be as it is a rare example of the particular architectural style). It was actually condemned 20 years ago due to the lack of plumbing facilities. I finally have hot water having installed evacuated tubes on the lean-to extension I built along the back of the place, and had my first hot shower in 12 months yesterday. It was bliss, despite the absence of doors on the place as yet. They way I see it, most of my village is still in bed at the time i was doing that, so no risk of accidental intrusion, lol.

And a flushing toilet - the excitement is too much!! By the time I move in (in around 3 weeks I hope) I will have two habitable rooms at the front, the loungeroom will be usable, though with a workbench along one wall, and the spare room will house the power tools and limit the mess somewhat. The rear extension houses a new kitchen, bathroom, laundry etc and should be fully functional within a few weeks of moving in as the kitchen is sitting out the back waiting to be installed, and the appliances are all in the loungeroom at present until the floor in the extension is ready to receive them. Painting, finishing building the window for the front room, hanging the odd door and I am home. Though a new roof is high on the list before winter really sets in.

The other two rooms will be finished next summer as I need a break and will also want to start earning an income once more, so I have declared winter a tradesman-free zone.

Good to catch up with you.

Regards

Jo

Horsecroft is located off the Pawleena Road. Pawleena Road turns left off the highway as you are heading down to Port Arthur. The actual driveway to the property is off to the right off Pawleena Road just past Cornhill Farm, which is along the road from the Sorell Fruit farm.

Well done from the progress you describe I think it is well deserved, that you will finally be able to move into your home and especially before winter sets in.

I can well understand the excitement of being able to have that hot shower and a flushing loo. We have the latter but not the former, yet.

Re the listing of your place, you could always have a chat to the Heritage Council. I would think they should be keen to obtain more listings of places of architectural and social heritage, and given Parattah's history, that should help you.

Indeed good to catch up and swap stories of the respective projects. All the best. Regards Dave

To get oil out of timber can be very difficult and time consuming. In the stock finishing part of the firearm's industry the usual home method is to use "Wonko's Brew" - not a spelling error for this forum's Wongo. Check it out on Google - basically what you are looking at acetone and alcohol but you won't be able to do the heating part.

The other idea to try is to use bentonite - found in kitty litter but you may find it worthwhile to crush it to a finer form, make a slurry, layer it on and cover with plastic - then you wait until it is totally dry, remove and go again until you get it to the stage you are happy with - it pulls the oil out of the timber. When you are "finished" with the process - leave it for a while to see if any more oil surfaces.

I believe that Calamine lotion also contains bentonite so you could try spot removal first.

Hope it helps, regards,
Bob

Hi Bob I did try kitty litter, but have not tried crushing and moistening it. Will give that a try and see what happens. It would be good at least to remove the top layer so I can feel reasonably safe applying the FW floor sealant - was worried about the combination of supafry and tung oil, lol.

I don't know if it is still around but Fullers Earth used to be good for removing grease etc. It was used in fulling cloth, removing the grease from wool and was a standby for spot removal.
Cheers,
Jim

Hi Jim, the clay-based cat litter actually is Fullers Earth. I frequently use it for getting oil stains out of fabrics that are not good with rubbing or strong chemicals - wonderfully versatile stuff, cat litter, lol

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Black Cat

Hi Jim, the clay-based cat litter actually is Fullers Earth. I frequently use it for getting oil stains out of fabrics that are not good with rubbing or strong chemicals - wonderfully versatile stuff, cat litter, lol

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Trouble is the cat gets to it first lol:D

Nah, mine have been trained to use sawdust - I don't have to pay for that, lol.

Fuller's Earth is only clay. (Fuller is another early name for a potter). Perhaps a 3-5mm layer of clay powder over the oil/fat warmed with a radiator or heat lamp from a safe distance will help draw the oils out of the wood without unwanted side-effects.

I'll be implementing the treatment tomorrow so will report back in a couple of days on progress.

It's not the 'look' I am unduly concerned about. It is the potential for the oil to impact on the finish I propose to use (also an oil, but a different type, obviously). I have applied the wet poultice of cat litter clay which is now drying off and forming cracks so will be looking more closely at it tomorrow when I can spare the time from making/repairing windowframes...

If you have made a wet poultice with the clay it is unlikely to take up any oil until it has dried. A dry powder of clay or whiting will be absorbent. How about a thin layer of clay or whiting topped with a flat piece of galvo or tin tray and a warm (not hot) iron sitting on the tin? Don't leave the scene!

My iron, along with the rest of my life, is currently sitting in the shipping container. Until i get this floor sorted it will stay there as I have no idea which box it is in. Will boil a kettle on the wood stove and apply heat that way tomorrow.

Thanks for the ideas.