“Hi there. We buy, restore and sell both secondhand and new rimu furniture. I noticed your products with Howards and wanted to ask what your origin was, who used your products and what is the difference between a Danish oil and the Tung oil. We use the Danish oil on Aiku suites that soaks into the table and the wood eventually dries up which can be expected.

What is a more long-lasting and durable approach for the method of staining that better preserves the quality of our furniture? We’d greatly appreciate your recommendation.”

Thanks, Maddie

“Hi Maddie,

Our Orange Tung Wood Oil is manufactured for us in Nowra NSW strictly according to the formula which I developed circa 2000, and which we produced ourselves in our Tamworth facility until the product became very popular and our manufacturing set-up could no longer handle the demand. The people who use our products are in the main professional woodworkers and DIY hobbyists who make their own furniture and other items made of wood.

There is really no such thing as Danish oil as that is actually a generic term used for wood oils that are generally but not always hard drying. My formula has been copied by a few manufacturers of oils and waxes over-time which call their products Danish Oil … one of them even described their version as organic, however they were never as good as ours because we don’t cut corners to cut costs.

We don’t use cheap fillers like hydrocarbons (kerosene) and certainly no linseed oil. Orange Tung Wood Oil is a combination of pure Chinese Tung oil and pure essential orange oil blended at the correct temperature with a dash of beeswax & soybean oil (prevents crazing).

Orange Tung Wood Oil is made to a formula based on the formula used many centuries ago by the ancient Chinese who used the oil on eating utensils (when blended with orange oil and cured, tung oil is completely food-safe), structural timber and bamboo and many other things.. including oceangoing vessels which unlike European vessels never leaked.

This is because pure tung oil blended with pure citrus oil penetrates into the cell of timber blocking moisture which may otherwise pass through the wood. In my opinion quality wood with a rich grain and a beautiful natural colour shouldn’t need to be stained, but if staining is seen to be necessary then it is best to use a spirit stain and not a water-based stain.

One thing I would highly recommend is that you apply a good quality natural wood wax to any surface that is coated with Orange Tung Wood Oil because good penetrating wax will nourish the wood as well as the oil on top of it, and will keep the wood looking good for years to come.

We have an easy to apply yet hard drying liquid wood which has been around since 1970 and is much loved by all who use it and it’s called Feed-N-Wax. It’s a combination of soft beeswax, hard carnauba wax which is liquefied with essential orange oil, and high grade mineral oil.

We also have a food-grade paste wax called Wax-It-All which can be used on a wide variety of surfaces such as kitchen benches, cutting boards and fine furniture. The look it produces is a rich lustre and it has what can only be described as a silky feel. Both these waxes are extraordinarily popular within a diverse customer demographic.,

You can visit our website http://www.howardproducts.com.au and you’ll see me demonstrating Orange Tung Wood Oil as well as Feed-N-Wax. The Wax-it-All is a new product and although I recently demonstrated it to a TV audience I have no demonstrations on our website as yet.

All the best,

David Foster
Technical Advice
Howard Products Australia
http://www.howardproducts.com.au

“Do you have a list of suppliers where I can purchase Orange Tung oil, preferably retail outlets, not mail order?”

Thanks, WH

“Hi WH,

Orange Tung Wood Oil is something of a well-kept secret because we don’t really advertise it very much. It’s made in small batches and due to the quality of the Chinese Tung Oil and Brazilian essential Orange Oil which constitutes 95% of the formula the cost of manufacturing is high. Orange Tung Wood Oil is very popular with people who know it and use it.

These include professional woodworkers, woodworking enthusiasts and even a company who only uses 100% natural Products on their projects. There are only a handful of retailers and if you want to know if there’s one near you just ring 1800672646 and one of our team members will search it.

Generally speaking though, you will still get the best price by ordering it online and paying the freight which we keep as low as possible.

Thanks for your enquiry,

David Foster
Technical Advice
Howard Products Australia
http://www.howardproducts.com.au

“Hi , I am thinking of sanding back my outdoor table and benches and applying your orange tung oil and sun shield. Can you please advise the best way to apply both?“

Thanks, Gary

Hi Gary

You’re on the right track, Orange Tung Wood Oil Is a wonderful way to deal with outdoor furniture because it saturates into the wood and prevents moisture from entering the wood itself, which creates rot and splitting.

To really work outdoors I suggest that you apply at least three coats. Sometimes people can get away with one or two coats, but with wood facing the Australian sun 7 days a week, especially in the summer months, you need the best protection you can get and I recommend that you apply at least three.

Sometimes people can get away with one or two coats in indoors situations, especially if a finishing coat of our Citrus Shield paste wax is planned as a follow-up, but wood facing Australian weather 7 days a week needs the best protection you can get and at least 3 coats is what you need.

Orange Tung Wood Oil covers at least 15 m² per litre per coat and this depends on the hardness and porosity of the wood being coated. Each coat needs at least 24 hours to dry and in the winter, especially if the furniture is outdoors when you work on it, it could take longer than that.

The important thing to remember is that you must wait until each coat is absolutely dry because if you try to put another coat over an even slightly damp first coat you could create a blotchy situation which will be very hard to rectify. This fact is true of any brand or type of wood oil you use, especially totally natural oil such as Orange Tung Wood Oil.

You begin the process by creating an approximation of what I call a French polishers rubber. A French polishers rubber or dolly is what the old-fashioned French polishers use when creating a brilliant finish on raw wood. You use this rubber to drive the oil into the wood thus creating a smooth even finish. You take a sheet of cloth, old pre-washed, lint-free flannelette cloth is a good example, cut two 20-25 cm squares and place them together on a flat surface like a table.

Take one of the pieces of cloth and rip, scissor or tear it into shreds or slivers. You then ball up the slivers and push them into the centre of the other cloth, pull up the sides & make a ball as hard as a tennis ball if you can, and tie it off with a string, rubber band or even a small cable tie … and you will have a hard ball of bound up cloth in the palm of your hand which approximates what the old French polishers used.

You now take a bowl, i use a wooden bowl but anything like a dish or even an empty ice cream container will do, Into that bowl you pour enough of the oil, say about a centimetre deep, to dip the ball into which you then allow to semi saturate as you hold it down into the oil.

You then look at the wood you have in front of you which should be sanded down as smooth as possible, except if you want a kind of rustic finish which you are not expecting to be smooth to the touch, but in any event the wood should be absolutely clear of any dirt or stains that might block penetration of the oil into the wood. With your saturated ball of cloth you begin to drive the oil into the wood surface going with the green wherever possible, and whenever the ball becomes dry you dip it into the oil again because you must apply the oil fairly generously, but it also must be applied thinly and evenly across the whole surface.

When you’ve completed that you wait for about 10 to 15 minutes and then you look across the surface and if you see any loose or gooey oil you must blot it away, this is called ‘tacking off‘. If you don’t do this you will have areas that are raised and these patches will dry shiny. This is called ‘varnishing’ which will give the wood a blotchy effect, so make sure that your table is allowed to dry evenly. Now you allow 24 hours, at least, to pass and then you test the surface and if it is absolutely, unquestionably dry, you then proceed in exactly the same way with the second coat and in the same way again with the third coat.

When the furniture is dry you can then begin to use it but be a little bit careful not to drag things across the surface while it is curing. Once it is cured which will take 3 to 4 weeks, you can then think about waxing it with Sunshield.

This is a high-quality blend of beeswax, carnauba wax and orange oil with an added UV inhibitor which is very powerful but after a few months it will lose its potency and you’ll have to lightly re-coat again from time to time. You apply it thinly and evenly over the surface and then you allow it 20 minutes to dry off a but before you wipe away the excess. You can then polish it up a bit. Once again you can add more than one coat, the more coats you apply overtime the better protection you will have, I would also recommend that you buy a bottle of our Howard Orange Oil as this is the only way you can safely wipe away dirt and grime from one of our waxed surfaces, any other type of furniture polish will simply remove the wax.

You simply spray an amount of the orange oil onto the edge of a cloth fold it up in your hand and move it quickly across the wax surface, this will remove dust and dirt without removing the wax but if you press too hard you may drive the surface wax into the wood and it will appear as if you have wiped the wax away but in fact it is going deeper into the wood providing more protection in the long run.

Hope that helps,

David Foster
Technical Advice
Howard Products Australia
http://www.howardproducts.com.au

“Used your Orange Tung Wood Oil on a hardwood table and chair set. It has come up as a matte finish. Looks great when applying the oil and it’s wet. Is there a product that I can use to give it that wet look. A clear or lacquer.”

Thanks, Steve

“Hi Steve,

Thanks for your query. Orange Tung Wood Oil is a great choice for a natural, nontoxic finish to protect, resist water, and beautify your table and chairs. The resulting finish is generally matte but depending on the porosity of the wood and the number of coats applied it may be a low sheen. As this product is primarily made up of genuine tung oil it is advisable to allow it to cure for a week or two before treating it with anything else.

After that time what you can do is apply a hard paste wax. 2 or 3 coats of Howard Products Citrus Shield paste wax will give your table and chairs a lustrous sheen. You’ll find it here:

https://www.howardproducts.com.au/citrus-shield.html

Hope this helps,

David Foster
Technical Advice
Howard Products Australia
http://www.howardproducts.com.au

“ I used your natural hard drying wood oil on my polished table. I end up getting misty patches. How do I get rid of them?”

Thanks, Mark

‘Hi Mark

Orange Tung Wood Oil, as it states on the label, is made for use on raw or stripped timber. I gather from your message that you may have inadvertently applied the Orange Tung Wood Oil to a previously polished (varnished) wood surface. In that case it will probably not stay intact and other problems may develop such as bloom or haze, even circle type marks where the oil had failed to grip while drying and has separated. The only effective way to deal with this is to thoroughly remove the Orange Tung oil from the surface by using Gum turpentine applied by saturating a pad of Superfine steel wool and carefully rubbing it into the surface, going with the grain and wiping dry with a cloth as you go. After that the surface will very likely be dull and possibly even lightly scored due to the heavy use of the steel wool.

The best way to rectify that is to rub Howard Restor-A-Shine into the finish and polish it up. Restor-A-Shine is a creamy Orange Oil based compound combined with extremely fine pumice type powder which cuts away build up and creates a high shine on varnished surfaces. The only other way to deal with this situation is to strip the table and resurface it using Orange Tung Wood Oil strictly as directed, or by going back to applying whatever varnish was there originally.

I sincerely hope this helps.

You can always email me if you require any further technical advice about Orange Tung Wood Oil as well as for any other product in our range.

Best of luck with it.

David Foster
Technical Advice
Howard Products Australia
http://www.howardproducts.com.au