Civil Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Beeswax
Beeswax is particularly well suited to the treatment of floors and bathroom walls.
It fills splits and pores in timber and prevents vermin from laying eggs. Wax is
usually dissolved in mineral turpentine or orange peel turpentine and can be
thinned out with linseed oil. It can be coloured with earth or mineral colours. The
wax is easy to wash with soap, but does not have much resistance to water, so
the wood should be saturated with oil first.
Beeswax is a renewable resource which creates no problems in production or
use. If organic solvents are added, they can be a health risk for the working
environment during their application, and can even cause problems for the
indoor climate later on, although these are relatively small. Re-use of treated
materials, recycling, energy recycling and composting or dumping create no
problems.
Recipe for wax treatment: Beeswax on wood
Three parts wax are melted in a water bath of 70-80°C, then one part turpentine is mixed in.
The mixture can be applied directly onto wooden walls. Floors have to be well sanded first,
and the surface temperature should not be under 20°C. When the surface is dry after a cou-
ple of days, it is polished. It must be waxed once a month where it is most worn. It can be
cleaned with a damp cloth and warm soap water.
Soap
Green soap is used for the treatment and saturation of wood, usually floors. It
consists mainly of fats from linseed oil or timber oil which are boiled out and
saponified with lye. Fats from maize, cotton seed and soya oil can also be used.
Small amounts of waterglass and soda can be added: soda increases its wash-
ing ability somewhat, but the same time decreases the effective amount of fats.
Green soap is relatively alkaline, and hinders the growth of bacteria and
mould.
Green soap is based mainly on renewable resources from plants and is free of
problems both in production and use. The same is true for the re-use of treated
materials, recycling, energy recycling and composting or dumping.
Recipe for green soap treatment
The floor must be dry and preferably newly sanded. A mixture of 2 dl solid green soap per
litre of hot water is poured over the floor. The gruel is worked into the timber in the direc-
tion of the floorboards. The floating soap water is dried up without completely drying the
surface. The surface is allowed to stand overnight, and the treatment is repeated four or
five times. Before the final treatment, the raised fibres can be sanded with a paper of
grade 120-150 in the direction of the boards. A stronger treatment can be achieved by
adding chalk (see chalk paint, Recipe 5, above).
