i want to use wax for my new oak work tops ,can anyone tell me what to buy and where to get it?i cant find any wax for worktops ?(or should i use oil?)

Oil every time. We've had oak worktops for 5 years and they're as good as new. The latest oil we bought was called Heartwood and it's not as nice to use as the first stuff, being a bit stickier at first , but we can't remember what the good stuff was!
Oil often - they soak it up.

i believe youy should oil the underside too to seal it,if you did'nt the underside would be open to the atmosphere whereas the top would be sealed this could cause warping.

we use Danish oil on our kitchen worktop. it dries to a good protective finish, although it is a little more like varnish than just a plain oil

i hope it isnt literally like varnish, that would be awful surely?!

We normally use rustins danish oil at work usually, nice stuff. Wipe on, remove excess with a clean cloth, and let it thoroughly soak in before messing with it. Pay special attention to end grain.

I believe you should oil monthly for the first 6 months, then do a drip test every so often to see if it needs more.

The worktops we sometimes get from spekva come with their own oil that is just labelled 'natural oil', so no idea what that really is.

ive just found a site here that has some useful info: http://www.woodcentral.com/russ/finish7.shtml


Danish Oil
There are several products sold under the name "Danish Oil". The most common is the Watco® product in the brown can, but there are other similar products available. These are an oil (only) finish that is made from linseed, soybean, and other oils, a lot of thinner, and no varnish resins. Since they contain no varnish resins, Danish Oils will not build a surface film, and any film that will form is incidental to the amount of linseed oil that is present.
While Danish Oils are fast and easy to apply and have many other uses for our finishing, they are not a good final finish for our turned wood. The finish is soft, not very durable, and will require rejuvenation every couple years when exposed to even indirect sunlight.
It is interesting to note that there is nothing "Danish" in these finishes. They are an oil finish that was marketed as a way for us to duplicate the finish on the "Danish Modern" furniture style that was popular at the time, which was a lacquer.

I just use a generic linseed oil on ours. The first few times it soaks it up pretty quick, but prob redo them every 5/6 months now.

Hi, as a joiner you should always oil kitchen worktops.You should also do the underside as this stops the worktop from twisting.If you have a underbench dishwasher you must fit some silver waterproof tape,as the heat and steam will damage the top.
John

thanks guys looks like im going to use oil

thanks guys looks like im going to use oil

Well for me the horse has gone and we have wood worktops. Used Tung oil but it's not really water proof after a couple of weeks, it's also sticky and attracts dust and small particles. I have gone your route with the asking and there seems to be as many answers as there are types of wood.

I have just sanded back my wood tops and given them two coats of Osmo top oil, quite expensive at about £25 per litre but it goes a long way. This still did not what i wanted. I want to see the water drops really ball up, and stand high.

Around the sink i have also waxed on top of the oil with Liberon Finishing wax, now this has solvent in it so they evaporate. I could not find coshh sheets for this but by chance i got a reply on another site from someone who writes these sheets. He said unless you eat spoonfuls of the wax it will be aright especially after a couple of days and the solvents have evaporated.

So around the sink ok, no food prep there. Have been in touch with Liberon and they recommend Ronseal Interior wax. this is what i'm looking for now.
Liberon and Ronseal are the same company

Someone else said to use chopping block well the cutout for the sink makes an excellent chopping block as does the cutout for the hob.

Forget oil!

My mum has oak worktops in her very heavily used kitchen, she was oiling them every 3 months or so and it still wasn't enough in the areas that got the most use
After 3 years or so she had huge black marks around the sink and cooker etc that took me 3 hours to sand out with an electric sander
(this was mostly danish oil)

About the same time I decided I wanted walnut worktops in my bathroom, fake ones looked cheap and nasty so after a fair bit of research I found this stuff:

http://www.letonkinoisvarnish.uk/

Its very old fashioned yacht varnish that's actually a blend of linseed and tung oil (just like danish oil) but with pure resin added.
It goes on quite thin and the first coat soaks in just like oil, and gives the same nice colour (with a few patchy glossy spots)
The just sand back a tiny bit, add another coat and so on.... 3 coats is enough, but 4 or 5 looks really good
If you want a matt or satin finish the sell a gel that you add into the final coat, but I've never tried this - the gloss actually looks really good (even when done by a Muppet like me) and its easier to wipe clean...

Obviously I coated both sides and all the edges in the bathroom and after 18 months of hard use with zero maintenance (apart from cleaning it with all kinds of bleach etc..) and it still looks just as good, and that's with a new baby in the house so the have been left covers in water on a daily basis.

Next I used it on my mums worktops, since its made of the same stuff as the oil that was already on the worktop it doesn't actually need any special prep, I just sanded out the old marks and got it nice an smooth, wiped it down with tack cloths and lastly a cloth with a little white spirit (recommended to degrease since it was oiled before)
I only had time for 3 coats before my mum came back from her holiday, but a year later and its still looking great and has no marks at all not even around the sink, it even seems to stand up well to boiling water spills and the odd hot dish / pot !

I'll just add that I've no connection to the folk that make or sell the stuff, I took a punt on it after reading some reviews and I've been very impressed, so much so I keep looking for more places to use it
I'll stick up a pick or 2 later if you like.

There are a few brands that make similar varnish, but most yacht varnish is actually modern PU based stuff which my mate had tried in his kitchen, which took less than 3 months to crack and peel around the edges as it doesn't soak into the surface like the oil based stuff


kitchen

[Edited on 15/4/2015 by mcerd1]