Hybrid Coating Technologies Inc (fka HCTI)

[sharpei]

I came across this article some months ago. It is the account of a flooring specialist in Vermont who wished to redo his wood floors with a 'green' sealer. He found Vermont Naturals which are advertised as ' harnessing the power of whey protein, a byproduct of cheese making, to deliver a durable, beautiful finish that has established the industry’s highest performance and environmental standards.(https://www.vermontnaturalcoatings.com/learn-about-polywhey/)


Here is his story:
I just checked out customer reviews for Vermont Natural Coatings. While there is absolutely no evidence of isocyanates, the performance and cost of these products appears to make it a less than desirable product. I've copied an excellent review from the page for anyone who is interested (by someone who wrote in vivid detail about any aspect of interest...well done review.)

'2.0 out of 5 stars Poor durability, poor waterproofing, November 26, 2012

By Jeremy A. Davis

'This review is from: Vermont Natural Coatings PolyWhey FLOOR FINISH Semi-gloss Gallon

I have a decent amount of work experience refinishing wood floors with conventional oil-based floor-grade polyurethane. When my wife and I bought our new home, we wanted to go green, have low voc's and avoid risks of off-gassing that occurs during the life of traditional polyurethane. After doing much research into green alternatives, we decided on Polywhey.

Here are my experiences with the product -
We applied PolyWhey to red oak floors that were sanded down to remove the previous finish which had been in poor condition. I sanded the floors down through the grits to 200 grit sandpaper, cleaned thoroughly (without using a tack cloth per instructions), then applied Polywhey with a lambswool applicator in 70 degrees at 50% humidity and proper ventilation. I started by refinishing the master bedroom in 2010, then a couple years later (2012) I refinished the rest of the upstairs.

Ease of application:
The good - polywhey dries very quickly allowing you to apply three or more coats in a single day, walking on it the next.
The bad - the fast dry time makes polywhey more difficult to apply evenly than polyurethane. On the first coat, you have to work very quickly or there can be darker areas in the wood. Because it starts drying so fast, it was difficult to keep a wet edge. I found that as I went to pour more on the floor, even my wet edge would start to dry. If I was not VERY fast, it would leave a darker line where the wet edge had been, even after I spread it out. Six months after application, these darker lines were not as visible as when it was first applied, and aren't really noticeable unless you look closely, but it still does not look like the professional job that I am used to getting with polyurethane.
After the first coat the floor becomes sealed so this is not a problem on subsequent coats. You can work at a less frantic pace for any additional coats you apply.

Coverage:
One of the deciding factors that led me to purchase polywhey was the estimated coverage. This for me offset the higher price of polywhey. Unfortunately, the coverage indicated on the can of 400-600 sq.ft. was not accurate, at least not with a porous wood like oak. If your floors are maple, 400 sq.ft. a gallon might be accurate. The first coat covered around 250 square feet of oak that had been sanded to 200 grit (200 girt is the professional standard). The coats after the first coat I probably got around 400-450 sq.ft. of coverage. Averaged out on my floors, I got around 300-350 square feet of coverage per gallon with 3 coats.

Smell:
The good - the smell of polywhey is SIGNIFICANTLY less potent than polyurethane.
The bad - when applied it still has a strong odor and I needed to wear my respirator. Even with a respirator, it gave me a headache. I do have many allergies and strong chemical odors such as household cleaners and even perfume/cologne give me headaches.
The ugly - unlike polyurethane where the smell is completely gone after 3 days of curing with proper ventilation, my floors still smelled like Polywhey six months after applying. The smell was not as strong as when first applied, but it was strong enough to give my pregnant wife a constant headache whenever she went upstairs (where our wood floors are). I contacted the manufacturer about this and after verifying that it was applied properly (proper humidity, ventilation, etc,) they suggested applying lemon juice to the floor. After three applications of lemon juice, the smell did disappear, but the lemon juice also lightened the color of the floor to be more blonde.

Color:
The color that polywhey gives your floor with have more of a blonde/yellow cast than the more amber cast of standard oil-based floor polyurethanes. I believe it may be comparable to other water-based polyurethanes (my experience is primarily with oil-based). We had wanted to bring out the richness of the red oak and liked what we saw in pictures of newly finished red oak floors in polywhey. When I first applied polywhey and for a day or so after, it looked stunning. It was exactly what we had been looking for. A couple weeks after application, however, it did not have the richness and was lighter in color (more blonde/yellow). As it has aged over the past years, it has gotten even lighter and more blonde/yellow. (see picture) Time will tell if this continues to happen with age. I have heard that dulling can happen over time with water-based polyurethanes so this may be similar to what it happening with the Polywhey.

Durability/sheen:
The good - I am not one who likes the wood floors that look like they are polished glass. I like semi-gloss polywhey because it has enough sheen so that is not matte, but not glossy enough to see crisp reflections. Semi-gloss Polywhey has slightly less sheen than semi-gloss polyurethane, but not enough of a difference to matter to me. I like that with three coats of semi-gloss you can still see the texture of the wood and it does not look like you have clear plastic laminated over the wood. I also like that semi-gloss helps hide scuffs and scratches compared with super-gloss.
The bad - polywhey dries harder than polyurethane making it more prone to scratching. Polywhey scratches much easier than polyurethane and these scuffs and scratches show. Sliding a plastic laundry basket with one load of clothes in it across the floor is enough to scuff it. (see picture)
Because of this I would not recommend polywhey for homes with children or medium to large dogs. Our cats thankfully have not done damage to the floor with their claws, though they do their rough-housing and running around downstairs. If they behaved that way upstairs I am not sure that the floors would not get scratched.

Waterproofing.
The good - polywhey makes the floor more waterproof than bare wood.
The bad - if any water (or liquid) is not cleaned up quickly, it soaks through the polywhey and will leave a dark spot in the grain of the wood. Though this will happen on polyurethane if there is a moderate to large size spill, or if the liquid is left too long, with polywhey, even if the drop of water is the size of a dime, it will soak through before it evaporates (even in dry 35% humidity winters) and discolor the wood. Thankfully on small drips the water has not stained the floor, a few days later the darker discoloration disappears.
Be careful of lotions. I had moisturizing cream that I dropped on the floor. I cleaned it up quickly, but it was too late. It discolored the wood and now a year later it is still stained. (see picture)
Polywhey also does not do well with animal (or child) vomit.
Standard Oil-based Polyurethane is also not good under very wet conditions or with vomit, but I would say it performs twice as well with water repellence as polywhey, easily.

For me, the lack of quality performance with the fact that it is three times as expensive as polyurethane completely outweighs the eco-friendly nature of the product. A bicycle cannot do what a car can do - if you need the performance of a car, you do not ride a bike.'
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