Why We Finish Our Furniture With Italian LED Hardwax Oil

When people ask what's on their table, they usually expect to hear polyurethane, since that's what most of us grew up with. We use a cutting edge Italian LED hardwax oil instead, and we picked it for reasons we will explain in this article. The first is cure time. Poly can feel dry in a day and still take weeks to fully harden, which means you baby the table and hope nobody sets a hot dish or a backpack on it. Our oil cures fast, so a table can get finished and moved along on a tight schedule instead of sitting around waiting for the cure to finish.

The second is what it's made of. This oil is plant-based and has no VOCs, so it's healthier for us in the shop, and there's no strong odors coming off your brand new table in the first few weeks in your house. Oil-based poly smells for a long time, and anyone who has refinished a floor knows that odor. Most traditional finishes are petroleum based, where our LED Hardwax Oil is plant-based. We make a lot of dining tables that kids eat at every day, so we like knowing what's sitting on that surface. Want to check yourself? Text 715-870-1122 and ask for a transparent data sheet (MSDS) that covers our finish.

The third reason is the one our customers end up appreciating most, and that's spot repair. A scratch or a ring in a poly finish usually means sanding the whole top and starting over, because the patch never blends in. With hardwax oil, we can fix the one spot, blend it in, and leave the rest of the table alone. Real families will put real wear on a dining table, and it's better when a mark is a ten minute fix instead of a task representing hours of hard work spent sanding the whole table.

It also makes our shop work smarter. We're a husband and wife duo, so there are only two of us, and believe me when I say there is a lot to do between building, quoting, and answering messages. Short cure times and a simple repair process mean we aren't losing days to a finish that won't harden or redoing work that should have been quick. This alone helps us maintain precise lead times that don't disappoint. That time goes back into building and talking with customers, which is our favorite part!

If you want to see what we build, the dining catalog on our site has every table style, base, chair and bench we offer, along with the wood choices. You can read more about Chelsea and me on our About Us page. And if you're ready to talk through a table for your space, call or text us at 715 870 1122 and we'll set up a free 15 minute design consultation.