Trade Secrets by Osmo

The finish you've applied is only as good as the maintenance that follows. But with Osmo, that maintenance is far simpler than most people expect, and Pat Wallace from GC Johnson Paints is here to prove it.In the series finale, Pat walks Jennie and Sparky through the practical reality of keeping wood looking great: how often to do it, which products to reach for, and what to avoid at all costs. That last point is mostly about jet washers, which Pat is not a fan of, and for very good reasons involving open grain and trapped moisture.Along the way he covers the Wood Reviver gel and when to use it, the difference between exterior and interior cleaners, his own twice-yearly maintenance routine, and why Polyx Oil is made from sunflower oil and lasts on a kitchen worktop that gets washed multiple times a day. He also talks through how to approach spot repairs, how to use the opaque Elements paint range, and why oil finishes simply don't suffer from the peeling and cracking that makes varnished floors such hard work to maintain.There's also a genuinely useful tip about writing the product name and date in pencil behind your light switches so you never forget what's on your walls and floors. Simple, but brilliant.Also, win a free Osmo Maintenance Kit at osmouk.com/podcast (terms and conditions apply).

The tool you use for application is just as important as the product itself. In episode four, Jennie and Sparky talk to Tom Howell from Wagner about the world of spray technology and why a growing number of professionals and DIYers are ditching their brushes and rollers.Tom covers everything from thin coat technique and the 50% overlap rule, to the difference between HVLP and airless systems and when each one makes sense. He explains why cranking everything up to maximum is a trap, how to test your settings before you start, and what the right approach looks like for something like interior floorboards where you want to show off the wood rather than hide it.There's also a genuinely useful tip about where to find the Wagner spray guides for Osmo products, which give you tested settings as a starting point so you're not just guessing.And yes, someone does ask about using a spray gun for fake tan. It goes where you'd expect.Win a free Osmo application set at osmouk.com/podcast (terms and conditions apply).

Surface prep is the step that makes or breaks any wood finishing job. But most people rush it, skip bits, or don't know the right process for the material they're working with.In episode three, Jennie and Sparky sit down with Alex from Mirka to find out what good prep actually looks like in practice, from a brand new deck to weathered outdoor timber to interior mouldings.Alex covers grit sequences, P-rated vs non-P-rated abrasives, how to prioritise when you're short on time, and why doing it right first time is almost always quicker than doing it twice.Stick around till the end of the episode to find out how you can claim your free Mirka Abranet sanding pads. Find all the details at osmouk.com/podcast (terms and conditions apply).

Picking the right wood finish is where a lot of projects go wrong before they've even started. In episode two, Jennie and Sparky are joined by two guests from across the industry to help make sense of it all.Aidan Green from Osmo UK walks through the key decisions that actually matter when choosing a product, from oil-based versus water-based to floors, furniture and exterior surfaces, and introduces the free Osmo Recommends app, which takes the guesswork out of the whole process.They're also joined by Ben Sturgis from Graphenstone, who brings a perspective from outside the Osmo world on where the coatings industry is heading, what the shift to lower VOC products really means in practice, and how to tell genuine environmental credentials from greenwashing.Download the free Osmo Recommends app and find the right product for your next project without the head-scratching.Also, in this episode we're giving away a tin of Graphenstone's new Siena paint. Head to osmouk.com/podcast to enter the competition (terms and conditions apply).

If you've ever spent a weekend on a project only to find it peeling or fading six months later, this episode is where it all begins.Jennie and Sparky are joined by Craig Pawson, Managing Director of Osmo UK, to dig into the thinking behind Osmo's oil-wax approach and why it works so differently to conventional paints and varnishes. They cover the most common frustrations with standard wood finishes, what breathability actually means in practice, what VOCs are and why they matter (especially indoors), and the honest case for why a more expensive tin can end up costing you less.Plus, we're are giving away a free Starter Kit to listeners so you can try it for yourself before committing to anything - osmouk.com/podcast. (Terms and conditions apply)

Welcome to Trade Secrets by Osmo.This is the podcast for anyone who works with wood and wants to get it right. Join Jennie and Sparky as they cut through the noise on wood finishing, with practical advice from the people who know it best.Whether you're a seasoned professional or a DIYer who's been burned by a job gone wrong, this is the stuff that actually makes a difference.From choosing the right product to applying it properly, understanding what's really in the tin, and keeping your work looking great for years to come.No jargon, no filler, just straight answers.