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A Guide to Polymerized Tung Oil Wood Finishes from Sutherland Welles
At Adler's Design Center & Hardware we're always seeking out best in class products to bring in to our store, and Sutherland Welles' handcrafted Polymerized Tung Oil products fit the bill perfectly. Their Tung Oil-based line fills a real gap when you're trying to get the best finishes for your wood, because they don't just provide more durability, but they look and feel a whole lot better too. So we're really psyched to bring these products into our store.
Rob and Mara, owners of Sutherland Welles, moved the company to Rhode Island from Vermont in January of 2022. All of their Polymerized Tung Oil products are manufactured right here in Rhode Island, and the wood finishes range from low VOC to no VOC, and from pure oil finishes to oil and resin based finishes.
What makes Tung Oil products different from Water-based products?
Polymerized Tung Oil will penetrate deep into the fibers of the wood, bringing all the nurturing benefits directly to the wood. If you were to compare that to a water-based finish, the water-based finishes sit directly on top of the wood and don't penetrate, which is why those finishes will crack and peel and de-laminate your finishes. The Sutherland Welles Tung Oil finishes go deep into the wood and then build an envelope, so the protection happens from inside the wood to the outside as opposed to just sitting on the top of the wood.
How do I know which product to use from the line?
Teddy's Polymerized Tung Oil is a no VOC and a petroleum free product that’s a great one to two coat paste, wax finish. It's great for cutting boards, wooden bowls, countertops, wood utensils, anything that you would expect to wear more quickly. It is food safe once cured.
The Original Polymerized Tung Oil, is great for any interior wood woodworking. So wood panels, wood trim floors, furniture, countertops. This is also food safe once cured.
The Murdoch's line is ideal if you're looking for extra protection because it’s a Resin Fortified Tung Oil system. This is great for floors, it's great for furniture, it's great for woodwork inside your house anywhere where you want a little bit extra protection from our very durable, non-yellowing clear resin. And the really nice thing about the Murdoch’s is when you use it, it doesn't look like a plastic finish, so it looks like a Tung Oil finish, and it has the protection of a polyurethane.
All of these Sutherland Wells products are in stock here at Adler's. So just come on in, tell us what you're working on, and we'll figure out which of these wonderful products are the right ones for your project.