Buddhist Temple Floors

[Rasseru]

Perhaps my questions will seem at first a tad off-forum, but my hope is that I may find here someone who knows the answers as a result of living at a Buddhist temple in Thailand. That said, I would be grateful to receive answers from anyone who knows them, regardless of how they acquired the knowledge.

Quite simply, I would like to learn how teak wooden floors in Buddhist temples in Thailand are finished and maintained. For example, are they treated with tung oil or any other kind of oil? Is this regularly applied on an on-going basis? Or, alternatively, are they simply left unfinished?

[Svenn]

Well in many rural houses, wood floors made of large planks are often left unfinished. I've seen many different types of floors in wats, from ultra-gloss western-style parquet floors to the unfinished.

[Rasseru]

Thank you, Svenn.

[MrBrad]

At a temple that I used to visit from time to time, I would see the novices or temple boys using coconut shells to polish the floor. They would stand with one foot on a piece of shell underfoot and with some well-rehearsed quick-step motions skate their way along the planks, leaving the floor shiny as glass. Coconut oil is the answer in this case.