Hello AT,
I read a few years ago in one of the shelter glossies about a furniture maker in Chelsea who uses either ground coffee or ground walnuts (can't recall which) to create a rich, deep, non-toxic wood floor finish. Has any body heard of this resource, and how can I get in touch?
Many thanks for any help that you can provide. Susi
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i'm afraid this isn't extremely helpful, but if you are good at research, you might try this: i remember martha stewart (i know, i know) talking about such natural stains for wood on one of her shows, many years ago.
I've used coffee stain by making it with water and instant coffee. I stained an old chair with it. I've never made it with the real thing, though. As a water based stain, you need to be cautious as it will lift wood grain. Ground walnuts suggests an oil based stain.
A weak reference for coffee as a stain: http://www.woodworking.org/WC/Garchive01/3_27colorants.html
Sounds interesting, but I would love to hear about any effective, non-toxic floor stain. Anyone have suggestions? Are there companies that do this and use non-toxic alternatives?
There is a reference here to walnut hull powder
www.basketpatterns.com/PAGE4.htm
This page gives the recipe, offers email advice & uses a coffeemaker:
www.basketsofjoy.com/faqs.aspx
Remember that water raises the grain, so you will have to sand before sealing, and a light stain may sand off.
This page describes traditional chemical free french polishing, which explains why people don't do it:
www.londonjoiners.com/finishes/finishes.php
This one uses ground walnut shells as an anti slip additive:
www.epoxyproducts.com/b_floor.html
And last but not least are the large number of stains sold at Rockler:
www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=5341