Rustins Oil - Kitchen Worktop - Streaks.

chris_ie

Hi,
So I'm in the process of redoing our kitchen worktops. They were sticky when we bought the house and recently got worse.

I've removed the existing finish on the island, sanded down and applied Rustins oil. Followed the usual instructions, applied liberally then wipe off after 4 or 5mins. Says around 8 hours drying time but I left it about 24hours before applying next coat.

I've done 3 coats now but the finish seems uneven, in that it has parts where its a a nice sheen finish and others where its duller. When the light hits it it has streaks too. Wiping finger across in some areas can leave a bit of a streak. Its been a few days since the last coat. It doesn't feel sticky but not as smooth like bare wood, sort of a light waxy feel.

Is it something I'm going to have to redo or is there a way I can remedy the situation? Maybe I left the oil a bit too long, as when going dry off, I used a paper towel at one point but it came apart with the oil as it was starting to get tacky.

I've started preparing the worktop now and going to go lighter on the application and wipe it off sooner.

peter bermingham

Sand with 320. I found when doing them wood worktops the last coat should be a thin light coat use a lint free cloth 100% cotton will work. When applying the oil long straight wipes with the grain if you go in circles it don't work out to good. I use danish oil also i do all the coats light coats, works out better and you can get a near glass finish.
So sand clean off.
Apply oil in straight lines with the grain full length strokes and lift up just at the end of the stroke
Light coats.
The reason your getting lines and high spots and dull bits is your not rubbing the oil in even, circles and rubbing across the grain will leave the effect your getting. Theirs nothing easy about oiling them worktops. You need to have the worktop sanded smooth and dust free before the last coat

chris_ie

Cheers for the reply Peter. When you say sand to 320, do you mean remove what I've done down to bare wood and sand to 320 or sand whats there using 320?

Edit : I see you said sand clean off so I assume removing back to bare wood.

peter bermingham

chris_ie wrote: »

Cheers for the reply Peter. When you say sand to 320, do you mean remove what I've done down to bare wood and sand to 320 or sand whats there using 320?

Edit : I see you said sand clean off so I assume removing back to bare wood.

No just sand with the 320 until the worktop is smooth to the touch to take out the lines and rough spots no need to sand back to bear wood, 6 light coats is way better than 6 heavy coats. What i do is put oil on you don't need to keep pouring it from the can ring out the cloth onto the worktop and continue with long strokes from end to end going with the grain. Then light strokes to wipe of excess oil. With a smooth worktop dust free and a 100% cotton cloth it should work out for you.

chris_ie

peter bermingham wrote: »

No just sand with the 320 until the worktop is smooth to the touch to take out the lines and rough spots no need to sand back to bear wood, 6 light coats is way better than 6 heavy coats. What i do is put oil on you don't need to keep pouring it from the can ring out the cloth onto the worktop and continue with long strokes from end to end going with the grain. Then light strokes to wipe of excess oil. With a smooth worktop dust free and a 100% cotton cloth it should work out for you.

Will give that a shot. Many thanks for the info and will adopt that approach on the new part!

peter bermingham

chris_ie wrote: »

Will give that a shot. Many thanks for the info and will adopt that approach on the new part!

Another thing fold the cloth into a square and keep it flat in your hand less chance of leaving lines in the finish

tabby aspreme

Different approach here to oiling worktops, thin the first few coats 50/50 with white spirit, flood the worktop and let it soak for minimum 30 minutes, keep adding more oil to keep a cover on it , then rub the oil into the wood across the grain or in a circular motion, finally use cloths to wipe off any surplus going with the grain.
After the first few coats I use a 75% oil mix, still flooding the worktop and leaving it to soak for 15 minutes, make sure to remove any surplus after each coat to prevent it from getting tacky. As has been said , oiling worktops takes time and physical effort.

peter bermingham

tabby aspreme wrote: »

Different approach here to oiling worktops, thin the first few coats 50/50 with white spirit, flood the worktop and let it soak for minimum 30 minutes, keep adding more oil to keep a cover on it , then rub the oil into the wood across the grain or in a circular motion, finally use cloths to wipe off any surplus going with the grain.
After the first few coats I use a 75% oil mix, still flooding the worktop and leaving it to soak for 15 minutes, make sure to remove any surplus after each coat to prevent it from getting tacky. As has been said , oiling worktops takes time and physical effort.

Never tried thinning the oil out have one to do soon ill give that a go see how i get on

chris_ie

Put the first coat on the worktop today. Put it on light lot then wiped off fairly quick, min or two max. Seems ok but still has some shiny patches for some reason. Just not getting the knack right or something. Another thing is it’s raised the grain in places and one part of the wood seems to be quite open ie gaps in grain or whatever.

I did see someone mention wet sanding one of the coats to fill pores, might have been for something like this. Might give it a light sand before second coat next few days.

tabby aspreme

Why not leave it on for longer. What type of oil are you using

chris_ie

tabby aspreme wrote: »

Why not leave it on for longer. What type of oil are you using

It's Rustins danish oil. I had done island top already and thought I had left that on too long which may have caused the smearing! So didn't want to make the same mistake again. Looking at it there again, the grain is raised in places, so the smoother 'shinier' places are mostly where it's not raised. Would sanding lightly with 220 before next coat be too rough? Or I could use 00000 steel wool I suppose

One part mentioned previously where the grain is pretty open. I sanded to 240 before oiling.

tabby aspreme

Ideally before you oil , you should sand to 320 , then rub the wood with a wet cloth to raise the grain, let it dry, then sand again. The open grain wood will absorb the oil quicker , you need to leave the oil on the wood for longer and rub it into the wood in a circular motion, then dry it off with the grain. Sand the rough bits lightly before the next coat, "a pain with oiled wood" , don't use wire wool as bits of the metal get stuck in the open grain, a disaster with wood that has a high acidic content. Rub the excess oil off with rags not paper towels.

chris_ie

tabby aspreme wrote: »

Ideally before you oil , you should sand to 320 , then rub the wood with a wet cloth to raise the grain, let it dry, then sand again. The open grain wood will absorb the oil quicker , you need to leave the oil on the wood for longer and rub it into the wood in a circular motion, then dry it off with the grain. Sand the rough bits lightly before the next coat, "a pain with oiled wood" , don't use wire wool as bits of the metal get stuck in the open grain, a disaster with wood that has a high acidic content. Rub the excess oil off with rags not paper towels.

Ah, crap. I left at 240 as 1) I couldn't find 320 anywhere in town and 2) read elsewhere that 240 was enough. That makes sense though. I've ordered 320 online earlier. Hopefully it'll be salvageable. First coat was light. Would it better sanding it off and raising grain using damp rag? Guess a damp rag wouldn't raise it now after firs coat.

For the island top I'd left it on for 5mins but when wiping off it had started getting sticky so thought it was too long. When it was done there was a waxy or something feel to it. Thought it would have had the feeling of close to bare wood.

tabby aspreme

240 would be ok, you need clean dry rags to wipe the oil off till the wood is dry , otherwise it becomes sticky, be sure to thin the oil with white spirit. Order some fine Abranet for sanding, put a few coats on then lightly sand

chris_ie

tabby aspreme wrote: »

240 would be ok, you need clean dry rags to wipe the oil off till the wood is dry , otherwise it becomes sticky, be sure to thin the oil with white spirit. Order some fine Abranet for sanding, put a few coats on then lightly sand

Cheers tabby. I didnt thin the first coat with white spirits, is it worth thinning the next coats? And does it apply to rustins, not sure if there much difference between rustins and normal danish oil. Also, any tips for the grainy parts, filler or wet sand with some oil during one of the coats?

db

chris_ie wrote: »

Cheers tabby. I didnt thin the first coat with white spirits, is it worth thinning the next coats? And does it apply to rustins, not sure if there much difference between rustins and normal danish oil. Also, any tips for the grainy parts, filler or wet sand with some oil during one of the coats?

Osmo TopOil is much better for worktops than Danish oil.

chris_ie

db wrote: »

Osmo TopOil is much better for worktops than Danish oil.

Bit late now Have the island done and started the worktop. Will keep it in mind if I ever change.

chris_ie

So sanded the worktop with 240 lightly. This got rid or dulled down most of the shinier parts. Wiped up then applied another coat of oil and wet sanded using 320. I think it filled in some of the grain but not the most noticeable, but it was only one coat wet sanded so couldn't expect too much.

Wiped down after and went back a few times again later and wiped down. Result is that it seems much more uniform in the finish. No overly shiny spots. That's just the two coats on now. I'll do another coat, maybe two. Then redo the island again with same technique.

Cheers for the info on this lads!