Using sustainable practices in home improvement and woodworking projects helps lessen our environmental impact, and natural oils for wood surfaces rank high on the list of eco-friendly products you can use to protect wood. The environmental benefits of using natural wood oils includes offering sustainability and delivering natural beauty and long-term durability. Gain an understanding of how natural oils help you add finishes that look great, hold up well to time and maintain better air quality than conventional wood finishes while also protecting human health.
What Are Natural Wood Oils?
Derived from easily renewable plant sources like seeds and nuts, natural wood oils nourish and protect wood surfaces without the harmful chemicals found in conventional wood finishes. Oils that create natural wood finishes have been used for centuries by woodworkers, and they’ve been valued historically for how well they bring out wood’s natural beauty while delivering robust protection against everything from the sun and staining to mold and mildew. These oils work on interior and exterior wood surfaces for versatile use and penetrate finished and bare wood alike for greater flexibility.
For instance, a hemp or tung oil wood finish penetrates wooden surfaces deeply to provide flexible protection that resists water, abrasions and acids, among other environmental factors. Food-safe options for cutting boards and kids’ toys let you use natural wood oils worry-free in homes with kids and pets. This type of oil also protects wood from damage, boosting your project’s sustainability thanks to a lack of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in their all-natural formulations. No VOCs also mean natural wood oils don’t affect air quality, so you can apply them indoors without worrying about human health.
The Eco-Friendly Nature of Natural Wood Oils
Well-known and loved by modern woodworkers for their biodegradability and nontoxic formulas, natural wood oils break down easily without causing environmental impacts and don’t release harmful chemicals into the atmosphere. Sourcing from renewable plant products means these wood oils are simple to replenish without damaging the areas where they’re harvested. Additionally, the processes used to create natural wood oils typically don’t use as much energy as synthetic options and produce no pollutants, simplifying disposal after completing your projects.
Health Benefits of Using Natural Wood Oils
No VOCs in the all-natural formulations of wood oils make their use safer for indoor air quality, whether you’re completing your project, waiting for it to cure or using it every day. On the other hand, synthetic wood finishes often contain harmful chemicals that contribute to indoor air pollution, leaving potentially dangerous smells behind that may lead to health problems or aggravate respiratory issues like asthma. The non-toxic, hypoallergenic nature of natural wood oils also makes them safe for woodworkers who use their finished products, especially when you choose food-safe options like tung oil and hemp oil.
Performance Benefits of Natural Wood Oils
Aside from the environmental factors involved when using natural wood oils, these finishes also provide outstanding performance that often outshines conventional wood finishes. For instance, tung oil adds a matte luster to wooden furniture for a natural finish that doubles as a wood stain. These versatile formulations work well in numerous projects, from finishing wood flooring and sprucing up garden furniture to maintaining wood furniture and protecting kitchen essentials. Each time you use natural wood oils on wooden surfaces, you enhance the surface’s natural beauty, lend extra durability to your piece and enable simple maintenance.
Choose the Right Natural Wood Oil
Now that you understand the environmental benefits of using natural wood oils, you know why these products make a great choice when you want the natural beauty of your wooden surfaces to shine through. These finishes each work well for specific projects, giving you top-notch options featuring natural ingredients — and no volatile organic compounds. This means these natural materials protect wooden surfaces without damaging indoor air quality or causing health problems. Let’s look at high-quality wood oil finishes from the Real Milk Paint Co. that don’t contain harsh chemicals for wood finishing projects that won’t add to your environmental impact.
Pure Tung Oil
When you want a versatile natural oil ideal for wooden surfaces indoors and out, turn to Pure Tung Oil. Made from 100% chinawood oil, this all-natural oil offers best-in-class protection for wood, penetrating deeply into the surface and polymerizing to a durable, flexible matte finish that resists marring, acids and water. The all-natural formulation also makes this natural oil finish ideal for use in diverse spaces, from kitchen butcher blocks and wood furniture to wood flooring and outdoor furniture.
Customize your projects by choosing between Pure Tung Oil, a Grade 1 formulation with honey coloring, and Dark Tung Oil, which is tinted with all-natural resin for a deep, rich appearance that enhances wood grain. Though this natural oil requires thinning with Orange Oil Natural Citrus Solvent or Odorless Mineral Spirits before use, we conveniently offer pre-mixed containers of Half & Half and Dark Half so you can get started immediately.
Hemp Oil
Hemp Oil from the Real Milk Paint Co. is sourced from top-notch industrial hemp seeds for eco-friendliness and the highest product quality. It’s safe for food contact and hypoallergenic for those with chemical sensitivities, and it contains only naturally occurring volatile organic compounds that don’t interfere with air quality. Additionally, this natural oil doesn’t require mixing with a solvent to achieve deep penetration on wooden surfaces and polymerizes rather than oxidizes for a flexible finish.
Aside from sustainability, natural ingredients and long-term durability on your wood surface, Hemp Oil offers numerous other benefits. For instance, this eco-friendly solution for wood finishing penetrates and protects any porous surface, including finished wood, bare wood and wooden furniture and furnishings coated with Real Milk Paint. This wood finish goes on smoothly for easy application and holds up well to practical pieces by the end of its 30-day curing time, preserving your wood’s natural beauty, even with frequent use.
Cutting Board Oil
Though food-safe Pure Tung Oil and Hemp Oil do the trick on kitchen items, the Real Milk Paint Co. set out to create a specialized formulation ideal for the kitchen. This unique design makes our Cutting Board Oil a best-in-class choice for maintaining your cutting boards, charcuterie boards, wooden plates, bowls and utensils. This natural wood oil combines palm fruit oil, grapefruit seed oil, rice bran, and hemp floral waxes to create a smooth-gliding formulation that helps you polish up your favorite pieces without concerns for environmental factors.
Though many companies use food-grade mineral oil in their wood finishes, the potential exists for contaminants in these formulations and inherit trust that the right grade of petroleum mineral oil is used. This possible danger to human health makes choosing eco-friendly wood finishes and butcher block oils like Cutting Board Oil a better way to go when you’re concerned about your family’s health. The way it protects, seals and conditions wood makes it just as durable as it is safe for use in homes with kids and pets.
Outdoor Defense Oil
Outdoor projects require extra protection from the elements, and Outdoor Defense Oil from the Real Milk Paint company delivers that in spades. Made with a mixture of Pure Tung Oil, zinc and pine oil, this wood finish imbues UV protection to outdoor furniture on your porch, deck or patio to extend their longevity and use in your relaxation space. These natural oils also work great on garden furniture, so you can sit down for a while and enjoy the flowers and fruits of your labors.
Outdoor Defense Oil also protects landscaping elements like raised garden beds, wooden fences, arches, pergolas and garden sheds. It penetrates any porous surface, so you can also use it to protect wood finishes covered in Real Milk Paint or even concrete porches. Apply this wood finish to your deck to help reduce mold and mildew risks, or add it to picnic tables and Adirondack chairs to enhance your outdoor furniture’s durability and natural beauty.
Why Use Wood Oils From the Real Milk Paint Co.?
At the Real Milk Paint Co., we take pride in our commitment to sustainable practices and create our eco-friendly wood finishes with that commitment in mind. Conventional wood finishes may protect wooden furniture and exterior wood surfaces. Still, they also leave a trail of environmental impact in their wake and have the potential to damage human health. That’s why we strive to deliver natural wood finishes that contain no harmful chemicals yet still easily protect wood projects and ensure lasting protection.
