Re-sanding wooden worktop

[PokHas]

Please can someone advise on how to tackle re-sanding an oak worktop that has been neglected for years? I have a mouse sander I’m planning to use.
Do the taps need to he removed before sanding? (I’m worried about scratching them) Is oak too had to hand sand?)
How about around the sink?
I really want to resurrect this worktop.

You probably need to use oxalic acid to bleach the black marks out. I don't think sanding alone will be enough.

@dontmalbeconme Thank you, I will look a that.

The black marks will be deep you can’t sand them out. Have a google but basically you need to dry it out, sand it, then use oxalic acid to remove the black marks. Bar keepers friend that you can buy in supermarkets/Home Bargains has it in but might not have enough if it’s bad.

I think you’ll need a sander, you can protect the taps.

Thank you both!

We’ve just used the oil on ours. Looks great now

Would you have a before-after photo? Did it have the same damage?

Oil isn’t going to cut it by looks of that, You can work around taps with mouse sander.

Scrape with Bahco carbide scraper or similar and sand then oxalic acid which will probably need several applications left for some time .

Hard to tell from picture but your silicone looks like it might be mouldy? If so cut out with sharp box cutter knife once worktop done and replace, Dowsil 785 is good.

Thank you, yes, the mouldy stuff/whatever is left of the silicone will be scraped out as well. Will look at the Bahco, thank you.

We got a professional company in to do ours, if that’s an option. We had tried ourselves but never got them anywhere near as good as they did. It was surprisingly cheap and way cheaper than replacing the worktops.

It will be a bit of work but will be worth it. You will definitely need a sander and oxalis acid as other posters have said.

When you re-oil I highly recommend Osmo polyx hard wax oil - or Osmo do a Top Oil for worktops which I think is the same thing. It’s bombproof, I put pans straight from the hob on the worktop and no marks. We’re not careful about clearing up spills straight away either. No black marks around the sink/taps. It’s easy to reapply just wipe on - ours hasn’t been redone for at least 2 years so it’s due a coat.

We’ve had oak worktops for 20 years and used danish oil for the first few years - it was awful, picked up loads of marks and water damage. Removing it was a pain but we’ve used the Osmo ever since and it’s brilliant. The Top Oil also comes in different colours so you can change the look of the oak if you fancy. I went darker with ours a couple of years ago.

Thank you, @Seaitoverthere for recommending the carbide scraper, that thing was a lifesaver. I was scraping and bleaching for a day and a half. Not perfect but even the professional I contacted said that the dark may not come out (I guess I could have sanded deeper, the top itself is bowed already anyway).
I’ put some before and after photos here. Obviously not perfect but I’ll just call it character. 😁