TimberLife launches new waterborne varnish for interior wooden floors, furniture and joinery 

Furni-Floor has been developed as a user-friendly, hard wearing interior varnish and is based on the latest waterborne technology available from one of the foremost international suppliers of single-pack, self cross-linking pure acrylic emulsion polymers.

In the process of developing Furni-Floor, TimberLife has undertaken extensive market research to establish essential properties required for a good quality floor varnish and also to understand shortcomings of currently available products. The most important criteria identified were ease of application and drying time between coats, quality of the final finish e.g. wear resistance, water and stain resistance, aesthetical appearance, durability, etc., health and safety issues, total application time involved, and obviously cost effectiveness.

With all of the above criteria in mind, TimberLife entered into the next stage of product research and development, i.e. selecting the appropriate polymer system and formulating Furni-Floor. The first selection criterion was easy; it must be a water-based system, eliminating most, if not all of the health and safety issues.

Several waterborne polymer systems were identified and tested in different formulations, most of them based on polyurethane, acrylic/polyurethane and pure acrylic emulsions.

The final formulation resulted in the commercialisation of Furni-Floor, a high quality, pure acrylic waterborne varnish with exceptional properties for use as a hard wearing, durable clear coating on interior wooden floors, furniture, bar tops, stairs, cladding, cupboards, etc.

Some of the outstanding features of Furni-Floor are:

• Ease of application – can be applied by brush, roller brush or spray application methods. Equipment can be cleaned with water.
• No substrate priming is required as a slightly thinned down first coat (± 2 parts of 1 part water) will penetrate the wood substrate and provide a good base coat for subsequent top coats.
• Excellent flow properties, resulting in a pleasing and smooth dry film appearance.
• Quick drying – first coat can be sanded to a smooth finish within two hours and a second coat can be applied immediately thereafter. Further coats can be applied after overnight drying.
• Good curing is obtained – reopening of floors to light traffic can be done within 24 hours, depending on weather conditions. Full curing is generally achieved after 4 to 7 days to ensure optimum wear resistance.
• After full curing, Furni-Floor results in a tough but flexible coating. This means that not only does it provide high wear resistance but it can also tolerate movement between floor boards and high impact loads without cracking or shattering.
• The coating is highly water repellent as well as chemical and stain resistant – does not leave water or stain marks.
• Furni-Floor provides a high sheen to glossy finish that does not discolour the wood substrate.
• It can be stained to different colours or be applied over prestained wood.
• Virtually odourless, therefore very user-friendly when applied in confined spaces.
• Safe to use – does not contain harmful organic solvents and therefore poses no health or fire risks.
• Lastly, Furni-Floor provides excellent coverage (± 15 to 20 m2 per litre per coat) which makes it very cost effective and therefore affordable.

In summary, Furni-Floor has not only been designed for the DIY user but also for use by highly specialized applicators such as flooring contractors, interior furniture manufacturers, joinery manufacturers, etc. where a durable but also an aesthetic finish is required.