Earth floor sealer... Cow urine, banana tree sap, oxblood? Alternatives to oil/solvent seal.

Hey all

We are on the last stages of our earthen floor; about to start the sealing process; once our cracks have been smoothed out...

We were planning on sealing with good ol' boiled Linseed and turps, but we heard rumours of some much more natural processes that have much less of a carbon foot print...

So the rumour is something about utilising banana trees (we have bananas on our farm here in South Africa)
You either tap, boil or chop then boil the stalk of the banana tree to achieve a sappy liquid which can be applied as a sealer?
Has anyone ever heard anything close to this method?

The other only alternative natural floor sealant is cow urine/manure. (We have cows on our farm)
The use of fresh cow dung floor is the traditional norm in our region of Africa, but it requires weekly/monthly maintenance.
I saw articles about the use of cow urine in India, but I think that was for anti-fungal properties and not sealing properties.

Blood is another traditional alternative, But we are a vegan based farm so we wont speak about that ...

If you have any follow up info for either of these 2 alternatives, or if you have heard rumour of other alternatives?
Or even if you have some hypothetical theories... Please feel free to add to this topic of discussion.

The oil/solvent option is a great choice; reliable, clean and standardised ratios can be easily  found... We will go ahead with this method if we dont find another...

So what evidence have the rumour spreaders shown you?
From;sealing earth floors
If you choose to burnish your floor, then as soon as the clay is completely dry, you can apply a sealer. The sealer densifies the top layer of clay (making it more durable & scratch-resistant), prevents dusting (so you don’t get clay on your butt when you sit on the floor), and reduces absorption (so makes it more stain-proof & easy to clean). The most common sealers are hardening oils, which react with oxygen in the air to chemically change into a hard, transparent, water-resistant, but breathable resin. Hardening oils include linseed oil (from flax seeds), hemp oil, tung oil, walnut oil, etc. The oil is applied in multiple layers, and each subsequent layer is thinned with a solvent to promote deep absorption into your floor’s surface. Common thinning solvents include citrus solvent (d-limonene based, i.e. orange peel) or mineral spirits (petroleum based). There are alternatives to oil & wax sealers, so feel free to do additional research / experimentation on that. (The most intriguing of all sealers to me is cow urine. Traditionally used in parts of Africa, it apparently makes for a stunning floor.) You can also add pigment to your sealer if you want to enhance the color of your floor.
Here are the layers I most commonly use to seal a floor:

1st coat – pure hardening oil (1 litre covers approximately 4 square metres when applied full strength)
2nd coat – 80% hardening oil with 20% thinning solvent
3rd coat – 60% hardening oil with 40% thinning solvent
optional 4th coat for high traffic or damp areas – 40% hardening oil with 60% thinning solvent
optional beeswax paste to finish – if you want a really luscious surface that feels like leather, then I recommend a final coat of beeswax paste buffed into the surface of your sealed floor
Note on smells: the oils harden by oxidising, a chemical process that offgasses an aldehyde compound. Aldehydes are technically volatile organic compounds (VOCs), though the particular compound off gassed from oils has extremely low toxicity (unlike their cousin, formaldehyde, which is carcinogenic). However, there is definitely a smell that can linger (especially from linseed oil) and some people with respiratory issues may experience discomfort.
From; Cows and cow urine
 

Apart from cow dung, cow urine is also used as an additive for plastering owing to its antifungal property; it prevents the growth of harmful fungi within the walls and floors, which is a cause of harmful diseases. It is an extremely good sealant for earthen floors. Using cow urine for sealing the topmost coat of the floor avoids cracking of the finish. Dilution of 1:10 (cow urine: water) shows an effective fungicidal property.

John,

Thank you for all that helpful information. I am finishing up construction of my home and am putting an earthen floor over perlite insulation and am looking for sources for sealers. I want to stay away from the boiled linseed from a big box store as it might have undesirable compounds in it. I am familiar with the claylin brand of earthen floor oils which I am sure are excellent but are a bit out of my budget. Just a few threads down was an individual who was boiling their own linseed, which seems cool but possibly disastrous. ~130 square meter home

Not trying to hijack this thread, John is just such a wealth of knowledge… what are your sources for linseed?

Thanks for the gratitude.
I have been around and have a thirst for knowledge.
Here is a link to some information about the oil.
It is never toxic Sustianibility of Linseed oil details

How did the job go in the end?

Tarn Joy wrote:

Blood is another traditional alternative, But we are a vegan based farm so we wont speak about that ...

Blood and Milk work great for several reasons as they act as a pozzolan. I see no reason that they can't be used in a vegan context.

Yes, blood was used as a pozzolan in ancient times to make concrete:
What is a pozzolan?
A pozzolan is a material that reacts with calcium hydroxide to create compounds with cementitious properties.
What is blood as a pozzolan?
Blood was used as an admixture, or substance added to cement to improve its properties.
How was blood used?
The Romans mixed blood with lime mortar, sand, and gravel to create pozzolan cement. This substance was used to build the Pantheon, the Appian Way, the Coliseum, and the Pont du Gard.
What were the properties of blood-added mortars?
Historic sources describe mortars with blood as being hard, durable, and adhesive. The hardened specimens had a dark red color on the top surface.
Other uses of blood in construction
Blood can also be used as an air entraining agent and colloid in cement, mortar, and concrete.
Other substances that were used as admixtures in ancient times include animal fat and milk.

Checking in here. Just poured an 145 sq earthen floor over concrete slab at about 1 1/2” final thikness- 1 1/4” base coat with 1/4” final coat. Looking good so far. Just sourced some oil, solvents and wax from a place called Bioshield out of Santa Fe. I got their “Hard Oil #9” and citrus solvent and liquid wax 😁 I heard about them from my local adobe yard NM Earth Adobes https://bioshieldpaint.com/

Jonah, how is the new floor performing?

Anyone have experience using Pine Solvent instead of Citrus Solvent to thin Linseed oil for sealing earthen floor? I have used Citrus Solvent before with great results, but am finding Pine Solvent less expensive: https://www.rmpfinishes.com/shop/solvents/pine-solvent/. The only info I find on it is from someone selling it, however.