Water marks to oiled kitchen worktop

[Amcky]

Hi All
I've recently sanded and reoiled (with linseed oil) this wood worktop to remove some scratches and stains.

This worked beautifully but soon after it has begun to mark much more readily with white water damage rings, see the attached pic.
Is this because I..
- didn't oil enough?
- didn't let oil dry enough?
- oiled too much?
- used wrong oil?

Or something else?

Any help is very much appreciated.

Thanks
Andrew

 

[foxhole]

Water marks usually caused by allowing standing water and sometimes heat.
To remove apply iron over tissue which will turn water to steam and be absorbed by the tissue, keep iron moving to avoid damage.

 

[Doggit]

I suspect you haven't oiled the worktop sufficiently. You do it once a day for a week, then once a week for 6 weeks, then every 3 months - and you oil every surface going front, back, sides, edges, the lot. The normal oil to use is teak oil; it has linseed in it, but other oils as well. I'm not sure what the wood is, but if it's Oak, then you need to use stainless steel screws, and you need slotted angle brackets to allow the wood to expand and contract.

Water marks normally only come out with sanding and re-oiling, but it'll be interesting to see if the ironing trick works, although I'd go for brown paper not tissue - much stronger - just don't use a steam iron.

 

[Amcky]

Thanks both.

I only gave it one coat of oil as it was only sanded lightly in a few isolated areas. The worktop was already completely oiled and finished. Does that mean everytime I repair and reoil, I need to start from scratch again?

I will try the iron trick and then add a couple more coats of oil.

Andrew

 

[chappers]

linseed oil, even boiled, notoriously can take a long time to fully dry. wouldn't be my choice for a worktop. Danish/teak or better still Junkers rustic oil would be my favourite. If it was otherwise sound and you didn't need to remove any marks then a quick key with 400grit paper should be enough for a general spruce up.
However if you don't know what the worktop was originally finished with I would be cautious as to what you use, unless you strip it back to bare wood

 

[Doggit]

Whilst the worktop may already have been oiled, it may not have had that many coats, nor well maintained, and as you only gave it one coat, that may not have been sufficient - if everything was Kosher, then you wouldn't have the water marks. If you do any maintenance, then it'll just depend on how well you get the sanded area to match back in, but you will need to build up the coats to get the right amount of protection.

I know you're not going to like this, but I reckon you need to sand down, and then re-oil with teak or Danish oil, and do the recommended number of coats. Done properly, you can pour water on a well oiled worktop, and then wipe it off without any problems, but you don't seem to be able to do that with yours. Oiled worktops can be a pain in the rear to maintain, but they are lovely to look at.

 

[foxhole]

I used osmo top oil, you apply five thin coats, lasted 3 years unmarked, before I sold the property .