Oak wood kitchen worktop tips please!

[Maximum71]

We decided on oak work tops for our new kitchen. The worktop next to the sink is getting 'overused' which is what we expected so we have been sanding it down and reapplying the oil regularly. Does anyone have any tips for a drainer or anything that will protect the wood from all the water splashes that happen with day to day use? In hindsight maybe a double drainer would have been the way to go but we choose a normal sink which is raised about .5cm above the worktop. Just oiled it again today 😬

I had walnut in my last house and around the sink had granite fitted. I know it's too late now, but could you have an off-cut piece fashioned into a dish drainer? The piece of granite around the sink I had was an off cut and then made to measure with the grooves for drainage carved into it.

Our upstand behind the sink has gone rotten and needs ripping out. Because DH is a lazy shit and hasn't oiled it enough in spite of him insisting he would when he overruled my choice of granite

You have to be religious with the oiling. We use a fine grade wire wool just to take the surface off, and then Danish oil. I've been tempted to try a yacht varnish tbh.

Ronseal Diamond Hard Floor Varnish we used clear satin it looks invisible.

Get a Joseph Jospeh draining board and lean it over the edge of the sink. It’s got a slant so all water goes back in to the sink.

Saved our wooden tops.

Just get into the habit of wiping down with a tea towel when you splash, it becomes second nature.

We have a clean tea towel folded behind the sink while washing up, we have a similar sink to you. It has still gone a bit black in just a year but the rest is fine, I have re oiled once in this time and even though it’s a faff and they are not perfect already, I don’t regret the choice. You basically cannot allow any water to remain on the surface of it will discolour. Osmo oil is amazing.