Here is why we recommend Bona wood floor sealers and topcoats.

This stuff is new, but amazing!

Its magic is to make wood look like it wasn’t coated at all. Being able to protect wood, without being able to see that layer of protective coating – that is an amazing chemical achievement.

Bona does this by suspending the tiniest amount of white pigment in the finish mixture. This white pigment offsets the “wet” look you automatically get from all film finishes.

European look, with resistance

If you want the natural look of a European penetrating oil finish, but with more abrasion resistance, NaturalSeal delivers.

NaturalSeal can be used a single layer under two coats of Bona Mega or Bona Traffic HD, or you can double-coat the NaturalSeal and get close to the appearance of a light white stain.

But be careful: any time there is a pigment in a coat, you increase the possibility of lapping the edges. This product is more difficult to apply than ClassicSeal.

ClassicSeal is the new name for Bonaseal

This is the original waterborne base coat designed to work under all Bona’s top coats. We always thought it was crystal clear, until we saw it next to the new NordicSeal, and now we know that there is a slight amber tint to it. However, it has nothing like the amount of amber in an oil-based coat.

It is the goldilocks of all the Bona sealers.

Neither too white nor too brown, we’ve used it and loved it for years.

A single layer of ClassicSeal is recommended under two coats of either Mega or Traffic HD polyurethane.

Our only quibble with ClassicSeal is that it is extraordinarily difficult to sand. We always use lightly screen after our seal coat to try to knock back the grain raise, but ClassicSeal is so elastic, that it just grabs and makes the buffer a nightmare to run. We find that using coarse 3M maroon buffer pads helps with the grabbiness, but it’s still a pain.

AmberSeal is Bona’s proposed solution to get the amber of an oil-based sealer, without the stink and VOCs of an oil-based sealer.

We say “proposed” because it doesn’t quite work as promised. It certainly does not deliver as much color as an oil-based sealer, but it does deliver more than ClassicSeal.

First-time users beware though; there is enough color in Amberseal that uneven application can allow lap lines and dark puddles!

The real reason we love this sealer, and why it is our first choice for all of our contracting work, is for how easily it screens.

Here’s the thing that Bona won’t tell you.

They claim that you don’t need to abrade their sealers before coating over them, but we always do because these water-based sealers voraciously raise and roughen the grain.

We insist on knocking that back before the other coats make it permament. And Amberseal is the easiest to screen of the entire Bona sealer selection.

And here’s where we change it up.

Despite the fact that this page is all about waterborne finishes, Bona actually makes their own oil-based sealer, specifically designed to be used under their water-based top coats.

Yes, we know that sounds like the beginning of a DIY nightmare, but Bona’s DriFast oil-based sealer will play nice even under waterborne finishes as long as you follow their directions.

And the main direction is this: you must let the DriFast dry for 12 hours and then you must abrade it with a 150- to 180-grit screen before top-coating it with Mega or Traffic HD.

But following those directions is worth it to get that extraordinarily even, warm amber color that oil-based finishes deliver so effortlessly. It is a crazy, hybrid solution that gives you the best of both worlds.

Mega was one of Bona’s first waterborne products in the US market.

We’ve been using it for 20 years and find that it has exceptional flow and working time for water-based finish. It has much less of a tendency to foam than other waterborne brands we’ve used.

And it is at least as tough as a high-quality oil-based polyurethane. It pours well from the jug and they include a filter with every gallon to place in the jug opening before use.

And even though the jug does not specify this, we ALWAYS screen the BonaSeal or AmberSeal before we apply Mega.

We just find that the grain raise caused by the first coat of waterborne can still be felt, two coats later! I know, we sound like the Princess and the Pea, but a smooth floor texture is worth it.

BUT you do not need to abrade between coats of Mega as long as you do them within 48 hours of each other.

The Tough Stuff.

According to the Taber Abrasion Test data supplied by Bona, it takes about twice as many steps to wear through Traffic than it does to wear through Mega.

It is especially recommended for kitchens, bathrooms and any room that gets direct walk-in traffic from an exterior door.

It is a 2-part catalyzed finish with a 4-hour pot life after catalyzation, so only mix up enough for one coat at a time!

Just like Mega, you do not need to screen between coats as long as you do them within 48 hours of each other.

More abrasion resistant, lowest VOCs, but most importantly, it gets closer to full cure in 24 hours than any other Bona product.

Traffic HD is 80% cured after 24 hours, 90% cured at 72 hours.

Tough AND great for stairs.

Bona Traffic HD Anti-Slip has all the things you love about Traffic HD, but with a friction co-efficient that allows it to be grippy even when wet.

Ideal for bathroom, kitchens, nursing home ramps, and for people who have recently fallen down their stairs.