My priority is to keep my 100 year old pine floorboards as close to their pale sanded colour as possible.

Have tried, on a small area, a water based polyurethane-Rustins satin, which gives the wood a very slightly warmer honey or yellow tint. Someone has suggested Bona might colour it less.

I have had an oil recommended, Blanchon Rough Timber Environment, as being most likely to keep the pine original pale colour and avoid further colouring.
Your advice please on keeping the original paleness (without limewash or staining), and how many coats, whilst providing a reasonably durable finish.

Thanks in advance
Fri

Generally speaking,the oil finishes darken more than water based.Oil develops an amber tint,and progressively gets darker.

Water bourne finishes are thinner,and do not have the same darkening affect.That doesn't mean the floor will stay exactly the same tone forever,but the change should be minimal.

From my experience,semi gloss,or gloss water bourne finish will closely resemble the original color for a good number of years.Satin,in most cases,comes out kinda pale,cloudy looking.If have access to Sampson brand Polyurethane finishes,I'd recommend Aquavar.The satin looks like milk,literally!It is one of the more pale finishes
I've seen,and a very durable product.
It's around $50 bucks a gallon here in TN

Thank you for your reply Floorpro. What you explain matches what I've read, and the little testing strips I've done. I'm enquiring mainly about products available in the UK (unfortunately the Sampson is not readily available).
I would be very grateful for further advice about trying to maintain the pale pine wood, as all the info can give me a clearer picture or better options.
Thanks again, and in advance, from London.

Blanchon Rough Timber Environment used on the living room pine as above-lovely pale sheen, no yellowing, simplicity itself to apply, probably only an import to US. I have used other treatments in my hallway with the consequent yellowing: the Blanchon looks superb by contrast and I thoroughly recommend it if you want to maintain the same wood colour with (old) pine. Seems pretty durable too.

Some of the clearest options will be light oils and waxes. Those options can help protect the floor without adding much color but aren't very durable.

Bonakemi offers a very durable waterborne finish called naturale. It is similar to their "traffic" finish but is completely flat.it has no sheen and I have used it in a few rustic homes to maintain the old look but give superior protection.Before using any urethane though, someone really needs to determine is your floor needs any further prep work. If your floor has any wax or oily build up, a urethane will not stick properly and may delaminate

The choice of finish depends on a number of factors. For a sander, to strip the varnish, you can use your hand sander but remember the wood is very soft and you have a lot to sand and the temptation will be to try and grind it off. This will leave swirl marks. I like the finishing pad sanders for light sanding. Especially on pine. I would stay away from Drum sanders and rotary sanders on pine unless I was doing thousands of square feet or something.

What kind of pine is it? Does it have a lot of knots? Nail holes? Is it red or yellow? (Just curious). Did he just want a clear natural finish? Or, did he want a color? I’ve noticed a lot of folks putting dark stains on pine. In any case, if you are staining, you have to do that prior to finishing. Then there are oils and polys. Oils are for moderate to low traffic or for people who take care of their floors. Polys are for dogs and kids and spills and whatnot. All of the drying oils leave you with a finish that is not built up on top of the wood.

Best to just pick up a quart of whatever and slap[ it on there and see if you like it.

My whole house, trim, doors, floors etc are all done with 100% pure tung oil and wax. It takes a week to dry. Its a lot of work but I like it.