The short answer
Bona Craft Oil 2K is the strongest competitor in this set and the closest to us on air quality: they publish a maximum of 19 grams of VOC per litre, we publish 6.4. We are about three times lower, not a hundred times, and we are not going to dress that up. Where we pull away is the cure. Bona Traffic HD is a different thing again, a waterborne lacquer rather than an oil, and it is covered separately below.
Bona is the one competitor where the honest answer is that they have done the hard work too. Craft Oil 2K is a low VOC, single coat, two part oil with a genuinely quick window between applications. If you are already running it and your programme works, this page may not change your mind. It is here because there is still a gap, and the gap is not where most people look.
On air quality, the gap is real but modest
Nineteen grams a litre is a good number. Set against the traditional hardwax oils, which run close to 500, Bona and Oslek are in the same part of the field and everyone else is somewhere else entirely. If low VOC is all you need, Craft Oil 2K will satisfy most specifications without any equipment at all. If you want the figure itself explained, including what the law actually allows and why the number is already printed on the tin, that is what 6.4 grams per litre actually means.
The fast number is between coats, not to usable
Bona quote 15 to 30 minutes between applications for Craft Oil 2K, at 23 degrees and 50 percent humidity. That is genuinely quick and it is the figure most people remember.
It is not the figure that decides when the room comes back. For that, the same sheet gives:
- Light foot traffic after 8 hours in neutral, 12 hours coloured.
- Furnishing normally after 12 to 24 hours.
- Wet cleaning after 1 to 2 days.
- Carpets and coverings after about a week.
And for full cure the Craft Oil 2K sheet gives no figure at all, which is worth noticing on a product otherwise documented this carefully.
So the honest framing is this. Bona have compressed the gap between coats to almost nothing. They have not removed the wait before the floor can be used, washed or covered, because the oil still hardens by reacting with air. Oslek removes that wait, because the film is cross linked by light before you have moved the lamp.
Side by side, the oils
| Oslek LED Hardwax Oil | Bona Craft Oil 2K | |
|---|---|---|
| How it hardens | Under a 395nm LED lamp | In air, two part with hardener |
| Between coats | Not applicable | 15 to 30 minutes |
| Light foot traffic | Straight away | 8 hours neutral, 12 coloured |
| Furniture back | Straight away | 12 to 24 hours |
| Washing the floor | Straight away | After 1 to 2 days |
| Rugs and coverings | Straight away | After about a week |
| Full cure | Immediately | Not published |
| Coats on new timber | One | One, two on porous timber |
| Coverage per litre | 40 to 50 m² by hand, 70 to 80 by machine | Approx. 30 m² |
| VOC content | 6.4 g per litre | Max 19 g per litre, incl. hardener |
| Mixing and pot life | None, single part | Two part, 6 to 8 hours once mixed |
| Needs a lamp | Yes | No |
The week before rugs can go down is the row we would point a specifier at. On a refurbishment with a handover date, that single line has moved more jobs to LED curing than the VOC figure ever has.
Bona Traffic HD is a different product, and we should say so
Traffic HD gets mentioned in the same breath as Craft Oil 2K, but it is not a hardwax oil. It is a waterborne two part polyurethane lacquer. It sits on top of the timber as a film rather than soaking into it, it looks different, it feels different, and it cannot be spot repaired without witness lines.
Comparing its coverage to ours would be dishonest arithmetic. Traffic HD covers roughly 8.6 to 9.8 square metres per litre against our 40 to 50, which sounds devastating until you remember that a lacquer is building a film and an oil is not. Different job, different quantity.
Where the comparison is fair:
- VOC. Traffic HD publishes 150 g per litre, 155 in gloss, against our 6.4. That is a real and large difference and it is like for like.
- Time. Two to three hours between coats, 24 hours before the floor is walked on, about three days to full cure at 80 percent after one. Two coats over a sealer, three in heavy traffic. Rugs stay off until fully cured.
- Repairability. A damaged oil finish can be abraded and re-oiled in the affected area. A damaged lacquer generally means recoating the whole floor.
And where it genuinely beats us: abrasion resistance under heavy commercial traffic. Traffic HD has a deserved reputation in that specific application, and if you are finishing a busy public floor where the only criterion is how long the surface survives being walked on, it is a sound choice and we would not argue with it.
Where Bona is the better choice
No equipment, and a distribution network we cannot match. Craft Oil 2K is available everywhere, supported everywhere, and needs nothing but a pad. Our lamp is the real cost of switching.
Craft Oil 2K is already low VOC. If your specification sets a threshold rather than asking for the lowest number, Bona almost certainly clears it, and the difference between 19 and 6.4 will not change your paperwork.
Traffic HD for heavy commercial wear. If the brief is a high traffic public floor and the look is secondary to abrasion resistance, a lacquer is the right family of product and Traffic HD is a good one.
And if the programme has the days in it, our speed buys you nothing. We keep saying this because it keeps being true.
Which to choose
Choose Bona Craft Oil 2K if you want low VOC without buying a lamp, you value local supply and support, or your schedule already absorbs a day or two before the floor is used and a week before rugs go down.
Choose Bona Traffic HD if the floor is heavy commercial traffic, you want a film finish, and maximum abrasion resistance outranks repairability and air quality.
Choose Oslek LED Hardwax Oil if the space has to be washed, furnished or carpeted before the week is out, the building stays occupied, you want the lowest VOC figure available in an oil short of Rubio's zero, or you are coating components on a line where cure time is throughput.
Frequently asked questions
How much VOC does Bona Craft Oil 2K contain compared with Oslek?
Bona publish a maximum of 19 grams per litre including hardener. Oslek publishes 6.4 grams per litre, which is the same thing as 99.4 percent VOC free stated the other way round. We are roughly three times lower, which is a real difference but a modest one next to the traditional hardwax oils at around 500.
Bona say 15 to 30 minutes between coats. Is that not faster than Oslek?
Between coats, it is quick. But that is not when the floor comes back. Bona's own sheet gives 8 to 12 hours before light foot traffic, 12 to 24 hours before furniture, 1 to 2 days before wet cleaning and about a week before rugs. Oslek has no waiting step at all, because the film is cured by light rather than by air.
Is Bona Traffic HD a hardwax oil?
No. It is a waterborne two part polyurethane lacquer. It forms a film on the surface rather than penetrating the timber, which changes the look, the feel and how it is repaired. Comparing its coverage per litre with an oil is not a like for like comparison, so we have not presented it as one.
Does Bona publish a full cure time for Craft Oil 2K?
Not in the technical data sheet we read, dated March 2021. It gives drying between applications and the return to use times, but no figure for full cure. Traffic HD does: about three days, 80 percent after one.
Which covers more per litre?
Against Craft Oil 2K, Oslek. Bona quote approximately 30 square metres per litre and we quote 40 to 50 by hand, or 70 to 80 by machine. Against Traffic HD the comparison does not hold, because a lacquer builds a film and an oil penetrates.
Can I apply Oslek over an existing Bona finish?
Over Craft Oil 2K, only onto a properly prepared surface: abrade the existing finish so the new coating can key into the timber, and test a discreet area first. Over Traffic HD or any lacquer, the film has to come off, which in practice means sanding back to bare timber.