When purchasing your wooden floor, you can essentially choose from three finishing options: varnished parquet, oiled, or waxed.
Each of these three surface finishes for prefinished wooden floors has its pros and cons, which we will detail below.

You can discover here the differences between two-layer prefinished parquet and three-layer prefinished parquet.

Varnished parquet: practical, durable, delicate

When we talk about varnished parquet, we mean that type of finish that involves applying a thin layer of varnish on the boards, which enhances their brilliance while protecting them from scratches and stains, although in the latter case, it is better to act quickly on wine stains, especially red ones.
For this type of operation, water-based varnishes, free of potentially harmful substances and therefore eco-friendly, are often used. At Woodco, for example, the varnishing cycle involves applying multiple layers of high-resistance acrylic varnish, completely non-toxic, solvent-free, compliant with the strictest European regulations.

A varnished parquet, whose colors are now available in a very wide range, is easy to clean: for daily cleaning, you can use a damp cloth with our gentle aloe vera cleaning products, or if you don’t find it necessary, just a damp cloth will suffice.

If these are the strengths of varnished parquet, let’s now move on to its minor cons: firstly, to restore varnished parquet, you will need to rely on an expert who will have to work on the entire floor surface because it is not possible to restore a single part. Additionally, with the restoration, which is usually done every 10-15 years, the boards are partially sanded, losing millimeters of thickness. Other “cons” are that scratches on its surface cannot be removed and remain for the entire duration of the parquet. Moreover, some types of varnish make the parquet very shiny, creating a reflective effect that not everyone may like.

Dream Natural Walnut – Extra matte varnish

Oiled parquet, a parquet as nature creates

The surface of oiled parquet, impregnated with natural oil, absorbs light without reflecting it, thus leaving the natural appearance of the wood intact.
The natural oil-based impregnation leaves a dry residue consisting solely of natural components and gives the floor high wear resistance, making it easy to maintain, repair, and restore. One of the weaknesses of oiled parquet is its tendency to scratch and get dirty easily: however, it is easier to repair scratches and stains compared to a varnished floor. We recommend using our cleaning and maintenance products for oiled floors.

On the downside, it is a type of floor to handle with care because, if neglected, the boards tend to dry out and splinter over time. Its maintenance, as mentioned, is simple: you can clean it with the appropriate product at least once a year and re-oil it every four or five years; by doing so, you will achieve and maintain its charming effect.

Dream Oak Chestnut oil-wax Osmo

Waxed parquet and the oil-wax solution

Even waxing respects and enhances the original characteristics of the wood and can be done with synthetic or natural products, transparent or lightly colored. It is a type of treatment that you will need to refresh once a year, but it has the advantage of preserving the material’s breathable properties.

Within our Dream collection, for example, you can find boards finished with the Osmo oil-wax solution. The surface of the parquet impregnated with oil-wax absorbs light and maintains the natural appearance of the wood; additionally, the impregnation leaves a dry residue consisting solely of natural components and gives the floor high wear resistance, making it easy to maintain, repair, and restore. With Osmo, the oily component of the mixture penetrates the wood’s pores and saturates them, while the waxy component settles on the wood’s surface, protecting it as a varnish would. In this way, the finish retains both the oil’s natural, warm, non-film-forming properties and the advantages of varnishing: resistance to foot traffic, abrasion, and liquid penetration.

The cleaner that solves problems

While it is true that for maintenance and care, an oiled parquet requires more attention than a varnished parquet, it is also true that in our collections you can find products for proper cleaning of both oiled and varnished floors, as well as those in Osmo oil-wax. For the latter, our researchers have developed a single product for regular cleaning.

It is the Osmo Quick Cleaner that removes food, fruit juice, wine, coffee, or other stains while simultaneously reviving the surface. For this reason, it can be an ideal solution to keep the beauty and quality of the boards intact, even when time is, as often happens, limited.