Rubio Monocoat Wood Stain & Finish 175 ft² - Smoke 5% | Oil Plus 2C | Quick-Dry, Eco-Friendly Linseed Wood Oil for Indoor Use, Includes Accelerator (Part B) | Protector | 350 ml

Worked great! Very easy to apply and work with! 1 coat looks like a nice matte finish. 2 coats makes it more of a satin finish. I am very happy with this product. Used it on a live edge hickory bar top and matching floating shelves.

This wood oil brings out the natural beauty of wood with just one coat! I used it on a homemade table, and it left a rich, smooth finish that feels durable. If you want a high-quality, eco-friendly wood treatment, this is the way to go.

What an awesome product! Before I get into how I used Rubio Monocoat and the final outcome, let me tell you WHY I used it and WHAT it is. I’ve seen a bunch of professional and hobbyist woodworkers on Instagram and YouTube swear by this product to finish their tables. Basically it’s a 2 component finish (means there’s some mixing required) of hard wax and oil that’s zero VOC (if you don’t know what that is just think no toxic off gassing or harmful fumes) it seals the wood, protects against water (like water rings not a monsoon) and it’s super easy to touch up if the finish gets damaged. I chose this product for the simplicity of simply sanding my work piece up to 150 grit, applying Rubio Monocoat, and then buffing... that’s it.Here’s what I used it on: I made a live edge table for my wife and I. It’s a live edge slab of Black Mara wood from Sri Lanka; this wood falls under the category of “exotic hardwood." This is important to note because there’s an extra step involved when using Rubio Monocoat on exotics that I didn’t know about until I realized my mistake. When you using this product on domestics (walnut, cherry, maple, oak etc.) you just sand, apply and buff. With exotic woods, which tend to be more oily and interlocked woods, you need to use Rubio Monocoats wood cleaner before you buy OR just wipe down your work piece with acetone after you finish sanding and before you apply this oil. IF you don’t... you’ll like tend up with a splotchy finish that looks like crap and you’ll need to sand your wood back down to bare wood and start over.Another piece of advice, DO NOT sand higher than 120-150 grit. This will also leave you with some splotchy areas... and that was my other problem... I went up to 220 grit and it’s a no go.Last bit of advice: whether your working with domestic or exotic lumber, make sure you let the airborne dust in your shop settle overnight, then use a tack cloth to wipe off the surface dust, otherwise the oil will bond with the airborne dust particles as it settles on your workpiece and bond with it, leaving you with a rough feeling surface.Once I started over and did things right (sand up to 120 grit, wipe/clean with acetone, apply finish and buff) the final result was beautiful!!!! Will def be buying Rubio Monocoat again!!!!

So simple. I used a spreader, then a white pad on an orbital sander to work the product into the wood (walnut in my case). Waited about 10 minutes, then used some blue shop towels to wipe all the excess off. I did a light scuffing with a maroon pad a couple days later, then applied a second coat to deal with some raised grain issues I wanted to correct. Totally my fault, as I had not “water popped” the wood prior to sanding with my final grit. Rubio Monocoat gives a great finish to walnut. It is almost impossible to mess up, but do make sure to wipe off the excess within 10 - 15 minutes. When your cloth slides easily across the surface, without any stickiness, you are good. Let it dry 24 hours before handling.

Update 1 year later -- bumping to 4 stars. While it still "micro scratches", I've been pleased overall with durability and it's not as if someone else would view the wood island as totally scratched up. The surface been a workhorse for a year and I've been less careful, and while it doesn't necessarily look "like new", it looks good and most wouldn't know the difference. The early returns on scratches caused me some concern that I might have to abandon the finish, but I'm now planning to stick with Rubio monocoat. The scratches definitely fade over time although I can easily point many out still. Using the surface spray soap and occasional universal maintenance oil helps. And the fact that I did 2 initial layers.In the end, I'm happy with the choice of this for a high use kitchen island with the understanding that's it's higher maintenance and cost than traditional polys (and I'd suggest to use the other Rubio products for maintenance + hand sanitizer spray occasionally if you need to disinfect well), it provides a nicer feel/look with an easier application and less odor than the platicky poly finishes. So, if you're okay with those trade-offs, then it can be a good choice for a kitchen island. The pros/cons indicated below still apply though. I think a matte poly (harder to find) would also be a reasonable choice if someone wants a more scratch resistant surface, but doesn't give quite as nice of a feel/look (and smells much worse at application time) and sacrifices easier repairability.Update 6 months later after using it as a kitchen island/working surface -- liking it overall, still scratches:This finish does a solid job of resisting stains/spills. When I spill a drink on the countertop, it beads on top and is easily wipable. I still tend to wipe things right away so as to not test my luck, but if something small was left overnight, it's not a big deal.It still scratches fairly easily although the maintenance oil does soften the appearance of scratches but doesn't eliminate them. I apply a new maintenance oil coat once every few months. I do like the finish look and feel, and might bump up rating to 4 stars...I use the Rubio Soap regularly to clean it, which works well, but that doesn't disinfect, so I use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer spray when I need it (e.g. raw meat got on it) which seems to work well (Rubio used to sell an alcohol-based product to disinfect).To summarize,Pros:Looks goodFeels goodEasy to applySmells goodResists spills/stains well/beads on top (still, wipe immediately)Repairable (although I have yet to re-sand and apply new coat, but simply applying a new coat of maintenance oil does restore it somewhat)Cons:ExpensiveHigh MaintenancePoor Scratch Resistance compared to more traditional finishesOriginal review: Using for a wooden kitchen island (maple butcher block). Applied it about 6 weeks ago. Did two coats based on recommendations here that it gives extra protection (and followed manufacturer's recommendations) + added Rubio Universal Maintenance Oil for additional durability (and then ANOTHER coat of maintenance oil two weeks later). The maintenance oil replaced the "high traffic" product that Rubio used to sell for hotels and commercial flooring applications. I figured all that would give it as good of a shot of durability as I could.This stuff smells nice, is easy to apply, looks really nice after application, and all that. It does seem to resist water/spills/stains although I've been fairly careful to wipe things up quickly so haven't fully tested sitting water or if certain products would stain it.However, my island now scratches ALL THE TIME. Maybe a kitchen island that is heavily used isn't the best use case for the product. Move a plate? Scratch. I knew it wouldn't be as scratch resistant as a poly, but figured it would offer at least some scratch resistance and the repairability/look was worth the tradeoff. I also got the Rubio Soap so I've bought into all the product line (3 different products) and spent a fair amount of time and money.Right now, I'm undecided if it was a wise choice to go with Rubio Monocoat or if I should have simply done a matte oil-based poly for a similar look with much less maintenance/cost. I am hopeful that after several months or a year, I can simply re-apply product or sand and re-apply and a "like new" surface will be there for me without too much effort. If I can do that, perhaps it's worth the extra maintenance but certainly, it's not close to a maintenance-free product like a poly would be (of course, poly is much harder to "start anew.") Depending on how that turns out, I am debating sanding it off and simply applying a poly, which would totally negate the benefit of Rubio Monocoat in the first place (easy repairability and look/feel of nature wood) and make it just a really expensive clear stain, which would have been silly.The kitchen island is a working surface that I use frequently (although I never cut/work on the surface directly), so perhaps going the traditional route would have been much easier and lower maintenance going forward for this type of use case. I saw some scratches in the first couple of weeks and applied another layer of maintenance oil and it did somewhat diminish the sight of the scratches, but didn't eliminate them. We'll see how the surface looks after several more months of wear and how applying more maintenance oil "brings it back to life" (or doesn't).So, I think Rubio is a great product for the right purpose. If you're planning to use a surface a lot and don't want to deal with maintenance, a poly solution might be a better fit depending on your particular wants/needs.