Oak worktop advice please

[batfuttocks]

I'm having these installed at the moment. They are beautiful: we are careless.

I've heard osmo polyx oil is the business to try and keep the oak from going black around the sink. The fitters used this for the first coat, on untreated oak. They have then put a second coat of Danish oil on.

Do I tell them to do more osmo? Can you put osmo on top of Danish without sanding? What should I make them do around the sink?

Don't know the answer to your question, but I'm interested to hear whether anybody does.

However, I thought one of the attractions of polyX is that it doesn't change the colour of the wood like Danish oil... I guess that horse has already bolted.

We have oak worktops treated with danish oil, and they haven't gone black round the sink. I re-oil maybe once every six months or so, and my husband is not especially careful with water splashes. It's been fine really. I've been considering polyX for when we resand our floors though.

You're right about that horse: I had intended to only have osmo on. They put it on too thickly, I think, and were complaining it hadn't dried overnight. Next thing I know, he's slapping on the Danish oil! Luckily I quite like the stained appearance. I think one or two danish oil coats will give a colour thats ok for my taste. I'm just worried it will turn very orange in the future if that's all we use. Also, I'm paranoid about water damage/coffee cup rings etc and seeking the most resilient finish.

I haven't used Osmo oil, but with oiled wood, it is usual to apply a coat, then after 20 minutes or so, wipe off any that has not soaked in.

Oil that lies on the surface oxides to gum and is then very hard to remove.

(The rags can ignite, so are wetted with water and tied up in plastic bags for disposal)

He does deal with worktops all the time: I can only assume he knows what he's doing! He is unfamiliar with osmo though, and uses Danish oil usually. I've assumed he put too much on but could be wrong.

I'm beyond paranoid about these worktops: perhaps I should have chosen granite

I have new oak worktops and love them. they look warm and inviting and are much less noisy than solid worktops (I am not keen on noise!).
I used the Osmo oil after lots of recommendations on here and it does seem very good.
I bought the quick drying version.

Perhaps try and contact Osmo direct about mixing the finish with Danish oil. I used Danish oil in previous houses and rate the Osmo much more both for finish and for the fact that water beads on it, this doesn't happen with D oil IME.

I contacted them: it seems they can't recommend applying on top of Danish oil (standard advice is to apply two coats of polyx to the raw wood). But reading between the lines, its ok to put it on top. Essentially if there's a problem with the finish we can sand back and start again. I am going to try on an off cut and make sure its ok before going ahead.

I would start again. The products are completely different. It's like you put on varnish, then paint, then varnish. Or varnish, then custard, then varnish.

Could you strip off the DO with white spirit? Osmo oil is meant to be applied thinly, you don't gloop it on, you brush it on thinly and wipe off the excess straight away. If it didn't dry overnight it was too thickly applied or possibly a very cold/damp room.

Osmo oil will still bring out the grain of the wood and then it darkens naturally with exposure to light over the months, so don't worry about the colour.

I think they have cocked up TBH but up to you if you want to make a fuss. They clearly couldn't be bothered to read the instructions on the tin. Has either of the finishes dried properly?

The surface look and feel dry now. The osmo oil took all night to dry - they commented that it had taken ages but then I saw him applying the Danish oil the next evening and then it was too late! They look good at the moment - I am more concerned A
about how they are protected as I know the osmo will do a better job than the Danish oil.

I was going to ask him to sand back lightly before applying more osmo. I wasn't going to suggest white spirit as the osmo customer team had just suggested sanding. The tops don't feel sticky or gummy but I am not really experienced in this sort of thing. I think I will annoy them enough suggesting sanding but as you say, it was a bit of a cock up - I had never asked them to apply osmo but had mentioned I'd heard it was good and had bought a tub for when the time came for me to oil them. He had some in the workshop but hasn't used it in tops before. So I think he was trying to help by putting it in the raw wood, but then wasnt too impressed with the initial result so reverted to what he knew best. I don't want to bollock him as he has otherwise been a gem: hopefully sanding and reapplying as per osmo instructions will do the trick.

ok good luck with it!

We used danish oil first of all on our worktops but after them seeming to drink the oil we applies two coats of Osmo which is great- water just seems to sit on top of it now rather than soaking in.