Thread: OSMO vs FW vs Fiddes - hardwax oils. I did another test

Another comparison here https://www.youtube.com/watch?si=H9ttkYOT755aBXBM&v=6zpJJri1XOM&feature=youtu.be

Thanks Jack.
A lot more rigorous.
And brands I have never heard of, which is to be expected.
For my DIY purposes, I can't see a reason to look beyond the FW product for now. Cost and the availability are significant factors to me. And I can't detect a difference in the finish between the three I looked at.
But if I did woodwork more seriously, I might look further afield.
Scott

I find all of these tests of hard wax finishes very interesting.

It is no surprise that a liquid of the same chemical composition gives the same results regardless of what colour tin it came from. I don't say that to mock your testing. Rather, it takes your testing (and the testing of you toobers) for users to come to that conclusion because they are so shrouded in marketing guff. Yes, some products that have different ingredients but I am yet to be convinced that they radically change the results to justify the price difference.

Because of a want to find a distinction (where there is little to no difference) it often comes down to subjective criteria like appearance. The stuff that is only somewhat visible at certain angles during the right phases of the moon. The criteria of 'does it look good to you and others?' is sufficient, and the rest is like art appreciation amongst arts snobs or a Coke v Pepsi taste test.

There is of course the alternative rabbit hole of shop made wax finishes...

Originally Posted by AnthonySeiver

I find all of these tests of hard wax finishes very interesting.

It is no surprise that a liquid of the same chemical composition gives the same results regardless of what colour tin it came from. I don't say that to mock your testing. Rather, it takes your testing (and the testing of you toobers) for users to come to that conclusion because they are so shrouded in marketing guff. Yes, some products that have different ingredients but I am yet to be convinced that they radically change the results to justify the price difference.

Because of a want to find a distinction (where there is little to no difference) it often comes down to subjective criteria like appearance. The stuff that is only somewhat visible at certain angles during the right phases of the moon. The criteria of 'does it look good to you and others?' is sufficient, and the rest is like art appreciation amongst arts snobs or a Coke v Pepsi taste test.

There is of course the alternative rabbit hole of shop made wax finishes...

Yes, most of us are suckers for marketing - if we weren't, it wouldn't exist. For a long time I worked in it, inventing and promoting benefits of no real consequence and making them seem essential and worth paying a premium for.

There would be some subtle differences in recoat time, or hardness or goodness knows what between hardwax oil brands, but none of those would be discernible to a DIY bloke.

I just looked up the FW product and then bought some myself to test. How long are you waiting until you are doing your test? Something to note is that most HWOs take a long time to fully cure, the FW is 7 days, Fiddes 7 days, osmo closer to 2 weeks. From my understanding timber finished in HWOs should not come into contact with water until theyre fully cured

https://assets.ctfassets.net/j75nnos..._Floor_Wax.pdf

The FW product is a purple colour liquid! Which I thought was surprising