Half & Half, Pre-Mixed Pure Tung Oil and Citrus Solvent

♡ Description
A perfect blend of Pure Tung Oil and natural, food grade thinner. One part Pure Tung Oil mixed to one part Citrus Solvent. Most projects require the thick viscosity of Pure Tung Oil to be thinned for better absorption into the surface. Half & Half is the perfect ratio for projects large and small.

This is pre-mixed Pure Tung Oil and Citrus Solvent. We found that is most cases the Pure Tung Oil is too thick to penetrate most surfaces. Thinning with a natural solvent helps the oil penetrate deeper into the material. The 1 to 1 or Half & Half ratio works great all-around for most surfaces like new raw wood, butcher block countertops, cutting boards, concrete, terra cotta clay pots, stone, and slate. This finish is also food contact safe! Generally, 3 to 5 coats are needed to seal and waterproof. This all-natural finish does take 7 to 10 days to develop a water resistance and a full 30 days for a complete cure. A quick way to see the color of your surface before oiling is to just wet with water. The way it looks wet but not glossy is the color you have when the oil is dry!

Continue below for more information on Half and Half, including its advantages, properties characteristics, and in-depth directions for use. If you have any further questions, feel free to message us directly!

**Shipping Note
This product cannot ship UPS Air or USPS International.

What is Tung Oil?
▫ Tung Oil is a hard drying wood oil that provides a lustrous and beautiful finish. It resists marring, penetrates well, and is environmentally friendly. Our tung oil is 100% pure and of the highest quality you’ll find. It’s all-natural, food safe, and creates a matte finish. FDA approved for food contact.

▫ The Tung Oil offered by Real Milk Paint is a 100% pure oil meaning it comes without any heavy metals, additives, or distillates. Most other oils can be anything from a thinned down varnish to polymerized tung, and most have petroleum distillates added. Ours will not build a gloss finish or heavy finish but will penetrate deeply into the wood to enhance character and water resistance while creating a great wood finish.

▫ This makes our pure tung oil perfect for uses such as wood counter tops, bowls, butcher blocks, cutting boards, chopping blocks, outdoor furniture, decks, wood siding, wood flooring, concrete, brick and just about any porous surface that needs an environmentally friendly product.

▫ We guarantee our Tung Oil is ASTM Quality Tested to be light in color with the highest amount of reactive sites to ensure drying and a great wood finish. We use only the freshest, highest quality product. All of our oils are “fresh” pumped from a drum just before shipping.

What is Citrus Solvent?
▫ Natural Citrus Solvent is used as a direct replacement for mineral spirits and odorless mineral spirits. Citrus Solvent can be used wherever paint thinner or mineral spirits are required as a natural, safer alternative. Citrus Solvent is not the same as any of the other “citrus-branded” cleaning products on the market, including Citrus Solve or Citri-Solve. It is, however, an excellent degreaser, paint thinner alternative, and can be used to replace petroleum chemicals such as mineral spirits.

▫ Citrus Solvent is 98% pure citrus peel oil extracted from the peel of the orange fruit; the other 2% is water. This small amount of water is emulsified in the solvent and will not raise wood grain but is released into the air as the solvent evaporates.


♡ Advantages of Half and Half
▫ Pre-thinned and pre-mixed
▫ Zero VOC’s
▫ All Natural means “Green”
▫ Best Available, Grade 1 yellow
▫ Naturally polymerizing finish
▫ Cures by oxidation, not evaporation
▫ Does not form a glossy finish no matter the number of coats
▫ Form a flexible waterproof finish
▫ Resists abrasion and acids
▫ Does not blister and peel (properly applied)
▫ Does not mold like linseed oil
▫ Long shelf life (will last for years, properly sealed)
▫ Does not darken with time like linseed oil
▫ FDA approved for food contact
▫ Does not go rancid
▫ 7 to 10 days partial cure, 15 to 30 days full cure

♡ Properties and Characteristics
▫ All natural finish that is both water and alkali resistant as well as offers a protective barrier.
▫ Will not darken with age as other finishes will.
▫ Resists marring, penetrates well, elastic and unlikely to check.
▫ It builds quickly, consolidates the wood surface, and builds a transparent matte finish.
▫ It will not mildew or bleed like linseed oil when dry which makes it an excellent candidate for outdoor finishes.
▫ It should be kept in an airtight container with minimum airspace.
▫ A Pure Tung Oil finish mixed with Citrus Solvent is an all-natural organic finish that is environmentally safe and food safe.

♡ Coverage
▫ Sample oz. covers 1 sq. foot
▫ 16 oz. covers 50 sq. feet
▫ 32 oz. covers 100 sq. feet
▫ Gallon covers 400 sq. feet
▫ Example: One Gallon would cover 400 sq. feet one time.


♡ Directions for Use
▫ There are four phases when it comes to using Pure Tung Oil for your projects.
Preparation
Application
Curing
Maintenance


♡ Preparation
▫ Be sure the surface of your project is free of dust, debris, or grime.

▫ Check to see if the surface is porous. (Pure Tung Oil works by absorbing into the material and filling the open pores. Therefore, if your material is not porous, it will not accept Pure Tung Oil. To test if your surface is porous or not, place a small amount of water on the surface. If the water absorbs, it is porous. If it does not and beads on the surface, you may need to sand and/or strip the surface.)

▫ If you need to sand your surface, we recommend not going above 220 grit sandpaper. Too high of a sandpaper grit will “polish” the surface, hindering proper absorption of Pure Tung Oil.

▫ If stripping your surface is needed, we recommend using Soy Gel: Paint and Urethane Stripper.

▫ If you are looking for a darker color finish, take a look at our Dark Tung Oil.

▫ We recommend using water or alcohol-based stains on the wood before the Pure Tung Oil is applied. Most oil-based stains should be avoided as they tend to seal the wood and prevent absorption of the Pure Tung Oil.

▫ Quick Tip: DO NOT use a wood conditioner. This will seal the wood and prevent the tung oil from absorbing.

▫ You can thin Pure Tung Oil with a variety of thinners. If you are doing a project where you want to use natural, food contact safe products, try Citrus Solvent.

NOTE: Most projects DO require this thinning. Only very old, dry wood or concrete tend to use unthinned Pure Tung Oil.

▫ Don’t want to deal with the hassle of thinning it yourself? Look no further than our Half & Half! Pre-mixed Pure Tung Oil and Citrus Solvent mean you can use it right from the bottle without any mixing!


♡ APPLICATION
▫ When applying Half and Half, here’s a handy thing to remember: Apply, Absorb, Repeat or Remove

Apply – Apply the oil to the surface.
Absorb – Let the oil absorb into the material.
Repeat – Do what you just did, apply the oil and let it absorb.
Remove – When the oil isn’t absorbing and pooling on the surface, remove it with a rag.
Cure – Let the Half and Half go through its natural curing process.

▫ For the best results, you want to saturate the material with the tung oil to the point where a majority of the surface is no longer absorbing the oil. This will look like puddles on the surface even after waiting 40 minutes. Just like a sponge, the wood (or other porous surfaces) will only absorb so much oil before it can’t anymore. This saturation is achieved by doing multiple coats.

▫ You can apply Half and Half with a brush, rag, roller, or even a pump sprayer depending on your project and needs. We recommend brushes and/or foam rollers for most projects.

▫ Apply a generous first coat.

▫ Let the oil absorb into the surface, waiting if needed, up to 40 minutes.

▫ Apply another coat, let it absorb, and repeat the previous steps.

▫ Continue this process until you reach the desired amount of coats or have fully saturated the wood. You can tell the wood is saturated when the oil puddles on the surface and no longer absorbs oil across a majority of the surface. To be sure, wait 40 minutes. If the oil is still puddling, then you will know the surface is saturated.

▫ Taking a clean rag or cloth, remove any excess tung oil that is puddling or pooling on the surface.

▫ Hang those oil-soaked rags outdoors to dry. DO NOT pile the rags or put them in a container.

▫ For the best finish, we recommend letting this application rest and settle overnight. The following day, apply one or two more coats of Tung Oil to the surface of your project, following the same steps outlined above.


♡ Curing
▫ Half and Half does not contain any additives to speed the drying process, such as heavy metallic dryers. Because of this, it can take up to 30 days to completely/thoroughly cure by its natural polymerization process. Provided below are some guidelines to follow during the curing phase.

▫ Pure Tung Oil cures best in warm, well-ventilated places. The warmer and more ventilated the area, the faster it will cure.

▫ Placing objects on the surface will “suffocate” and prevent the Pure Tung Oil from curing properly. If there is no airflow between the surface and the object, it should be removed until the curing is complete (30 days).

▫ During the first 7-15 days of curing, you can use the surface. However, you will want to avoid getting it dirty or allowing liquids to puddle on the surface.

▫ As the Pure Tung Oil cures, its durability and resistance to liquids and dirt will also increase. The first 7-15 days is when the oil is at its freshest and weakest state. After that point, increased regular use of the surface can take place.

▫ As Pure Tung Oil cures, it slightly expands and may push fresh oil back to the surface. Check for oil that may be seeping to the surface and remove it, if found, with a rag.


If you have any other questions feel free to message us directly!