Finish for oak washstand

[PilotPete]

I am getting an oak washstand made for my bathroom project as it is much cheaper than buying a ready made one from a bathroom supplier (about £500 cheaper!!). The only thing is that the guy making it is leaving it unfinished.

I am going to use Danish Oil and would like some advice on the best way to apply it, bearing in mind this unit will be in a bathroom. More than one coat?

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[Jasonb]

You will need several coats, the general method is once a day for a week, once a week for a month, once a month for six months then as required.

Apply with a foam brush, leave to soak in for 5mins then remove all surplus oil with a cotton rag, this is very important if you don't want a stick mess.

Before applying the next coat rub down with a grey Scotchbrite pad and apply as above.

Don't use an ould tin of oil as it goes off once opened and don't leave rags screwed up, they can burst into flame!!

Jason

 

[oilman]

I would not use danish oil as it dries too quickly and so doesn't penetrate so well. Use tung oil without additives. Then as Jason says for application.

 

[mr_mike]

Hi PilotPete,

Danish Oil will look fantastic, it's easy to use to achieve a great finish, and keeping the surfaces looking great is really not that much of a hardship.

No oil will give your Oak 100% protection. Common sense applies here. Mop up spillages immediately & avoid leaving any metal items in contact with the surfaces for any length of time.

Danish Oil looks great and is easy to use....go for it Pete.

 

[PilotPete]

Thanks for the advise guys. What's the difference between tung oil and Danish oil then, especially in terms of colour?

 

[oilman]

No difference in colour. Danish oil is a modified tung oil, and will look more glossy than tung oil. Danish oil has driers in it to make it dry faster, tung oil will take longer to dry and penetrate more.

As for whether it looks fantastic or not, some people like upvc windows, some people speedway, some people like bingo, it's a matter of preference what it looks like.

 

[PilotPete]

Cheers oilman. One more question, what is a foam brush? Is it a pad? Thanks again.

 

[oilman]

It's a bit of plastic foam on a stick.

 

[PilotPete]

Thought I would send an update of progress. Bought some small 'paint pads' from my local decorating store, Tung Oil off e-bay (great service, turned up next day just using Royal Snail), loads of cotton rags and have applied 2 coats so far, raaging off between after 20 minutes. The washstand looks terrific, so thanks for the advice guys, especially Oilman.

One last question. Is it really necessary to apply a coat a day for a week, then per week for a month etc etc as it looks great already? Does it just need the others to build up the 'depth'? I assume it won't keep it's current finish too long if I stop now and put it to use?

Thanks again.

PP

 

[oilman]

What's NECESSARY could be discussed till we all fall down, but my understanding would be that by using "the method", you are maintaining a level of oil at the surface which will allow the oil to penetrate for say the first month or two at least. There may be more penetration after that, but there will be some building in very thin layers (which they must be or you get a tacky surface). The wood will suck in the oil for a long time and so it will disappear from the surface.

As a more extreme example, mahogany, varnished with 5 or 6 coats will start shoing the grain again in a year or two, just because the varnish has been sucked into the wood.

To see what happens with the oil, put a tiny amount in the bottom of a pot (you could put it in the top, but you will find it falls to the bottom anyway ) just enough to cover the surface. Then leave it for months, and watch what happens.