The Lemon Fool

I have a kitchen island with a varnished wooden top. It is good quality wood but the varnish is worn and scratched and needs an overhaul.

No problem to sand it down and prepare it - ready for some sort of clear varnish. Any recommendations for the Varnish I should buy? A proper new top is not an option here - the house is for sale, so I'm only doing a patch job here.

We use mats for anything really hot from the oven, but its still going to get hot plates on it for serving.

Many thanks.

NoVoice

I have used Danish Oil

Chum of mine had an extension and new kitchen 5 years back - he had wood finished with Danish oil, looks great we all agree but he'd not repeat that and would opt for a varnished work top as he's obliged to keep oiling the worktop every few months. I get the impression that is forever.
https://www.google.com/search?q=Danish+ ... e&ie=UTF-8

danish oil or walnut oil works well. Thing is you need to do it every year to "feed" the wood else it'll be prone to drying and cracking.

pompeygazza wrote:danish oil or walnut oil works well. Thing is you need to do it every year to "feed" the wood else it'll be prone to drying and cracking.

I certainly have not had to. You have to do it properly to start with. Lots of coats, rubbed down with steel wool in between.
I think Danish oil is half way between a varnish and an oil.

scrumpyjack wrote:

pompeygazza wrote:danish oil or walnut oil works well. Thing is you need to do it every year to "feed" the wood else it'll be prone to drying and cracking.

I certainly have not had to. You have to do it properly to start with. Lots of coats, rubbed down with steel wool in between.
I think Danish oil is half way between a varnish and an oil.

Agreed, I think the one I have is about a third varnish in tung
I figure you almost need to do the same number of coats anyway; so if you've got the time do them before you start using it (rather than spread them a few years apart - and have to find space to store all the stuff that would get in the way in your kitchen block while it dries )

-sd

Novoiceleft wrote:I have a kitchen island with a varnished wooden top. It is good quality wood but the varnish is worn and scratched and needs an overhaul.

No problem to sand it down and prepare it - ready for some sort of clear varnish. Any recommendations for the Varnish I should buy? A proper new top is not an option here - the house is for sale, so I'm only doing a patch job here.

We use mats for anything really hot from the oven, but its still going to get hot plates on it for serving.

Many thanks.

NoVoice

The thread is getting bogged down in detail. No need to do anything to the worktop I'd suggest. A house sale never depends on how well a kitchen worktop is varnished. No-one ever says "Great house, I'd love to buy it, but that worn out kitchen worktop kills it for me..."

Mike4 wrote:The thread is getting bogged down in detail. No need to do anything to the worktop I'd suggest. A house sale never depends on how well a kitchen worktop is varnished. No-one ever says "Great house, I'd love to buy it, but that worn out kitchen worktop kills it for me..."

Danish oil... but how true.... a house down the lane just changed hands and the perfectly good kitchen is in the skip.

V8 ... although for anyone with a worktop to refinish, if you want to use Danish oil on a top that's been varnished, you have to remove all the old varnish first, or the oil won't sink in.

Novoiceleft wrote:I have a kitchen island with a varnished wooden top. It is good quality wood but the varnish is worn and scratched and needs an overhaul.

No problem to sand it down and prepare it - ready for some sort of clear varnish. Any recommendations for the Varnish I should buy? A proper new top is not an option here - the house is for sale, so I'm only doing a patch job here.

We use mats for anything really hot from the oven, but its still going to get hot plates on it for serving.

Many thanks.

NoVoice

As far as experienced is concerned, here is the top 5 wood varnishes

TotalBoat Gleam Marine Spar Varnish.
Epifanes Clear Varnish.
Rust-Oleum Marine Varnish.
System 3 Clear Polyurethane Varnish Coating.
Tired & True Varnish Oil.

Osmo PolyX -

https://osmouk.com/product/polyx-oil-original/

It's just a patch job?

Easy choice - oil is definitely simplest. Sanded down you can apply six or seven coats in a single day to a lovely finish. The durability is the buyers problem!

I used six coats of Liberon Floor OIl for a homemade hardwood-faced-plywood worktop in my garage. It was fairly impermeable and took a few knocks and spills in its stride

Regards

Pheid