Anyone with solid wood worktops - do you love or hate them??

[MadameGazelle]

That's it really am in the process of installing a new kitchen and can't make a decision on worktops. Have decided (finally ) on white high gloss units and a wooden or wood effect worktop, was going to go for laminate as more hardwearing but am being swayed towards real wood as I know it will look far nicer; I don't mind the sanding down but don't want it to look manky in 6 months. We have no room for a dishwasher so will be doing a lot of washing up. TIA

What do you oil them with?

danish oil

DAnish oil. Takes five minutes to oil ours.

If you do choose to go for wood, you could always go for a sink like this so there's no wood around it to get wet. You can get stainless steel worktop savers too, which you can put near the hob for hot pans and chopping veggies.

Can I just say that worktop oils smell as bad as paint to me. I really can't bear it and I don't like this stuff anywhere near food preparation surfaces. If you find the smell offensive, you are going to struggle to be motivated to oil anywhere, let alone round a sink (where it is vital).

Can anybody shed light on whether some woods are better than others for resisting stains? What makes things better/worse?

My sil made a mahoosive deal about having real wood worktops and now says she hates them because she is constantly concious of burning them/ damaging them. She advised me never to go there...

We got the cheap solid beech from IKEA 3 years ago and they're great, love them.

They get oiled once every 6 months or so, which literally takes minutes.

Any small marks are easily and lightly sanded out.

Water doesn't stain, hot pans don't burn, stuff out of the oven doesn't mark. The only staining we've found is from strong soap products, like Aerial or something, but they sand out easily.

Wood is also very hygenic, it has natural properties which help kill bacteria, saving on chemicals and such.

For those who find oiling only takes minutes do you have lovely tidy kitchens with nothing on the worksurface?

lol Eldon, all we have on our worktops are a toaster, kettle and microwave, but you're right, moving those things takes longer than oiling them!

We have Ikea ones (9 yrs old) and they look fine except around the sink. Water has gathered (we do all washing up by hand) and black mould has set in which cannot now be sanded off because it is ingrained.
I do like them, but if I did it again, I would consider getting another material for area of the sink surround. I think even if you had a sink similar to the one recommended by MrsL123, there would still be possibility of water getting on surrounding wood surface. (or perhaps we are just very enthusiastic washer-uppers!)

Really happy with ours. Two years old now and don't need much work. Have never sanded, only oiled them.

I have white high gloss with walnut worktops (see profile pics).

Love them, only oil occasionally, really is quick to do.

I'm about to order oak worktops for our new kitchen (matt units - good to know they're elegant! )
Can i ask OP and everyone else with wood what sink you have? Fitter has mentioned ceramic but they are so bright and I'm scared of breaking every piece of crockery we own (this is based on washing up in the bathroom sink for the past fortnight...). I love the look of undermounted but have been strongly advised against it. So does inset stainless steel look ok? Have also seen one with a glass surround but it's £££...

I don't have wood worktops,but do have a ceramic butler sink.I haven't broken anything in it yet,as I got one of those rubber mat things to go in the bottom.Even the dd's,who drop stuff in as they are too small to see over the top,have failed to smash anything.

Thanks 101. Hadn't thought of a rubber mat. I really like the butler style but need a drainer I think and it's such a big expanse of dazzling white.
Sorry for the hijack, OP.

neverready where have you ordered your oak ones from please? , i think im on the brink myself wanting oak and seen them in ikea though there delivery is mega bucks.....

They are from worktop-express.co.uk - fitter has used them before and i got samples so I could see for myself (they refund the cost of these if you go on to order). Can I ask what sink you're going for?

was looking at a ceramic one like this or a stainless steel jobby like this . Am not intending on using it overly as we have a dishwasher that said if i could find a more sexier sink i would get it if it was within the first sinks bracket. We have a high gloss kitchen mid fit so a belfast sink wouldnt really go though i would have liked one. Will go look at worktop site now thanks

Love them, but we have moved house and the one we have now isn't as good as our old one, which was IKEA that we put in, and looked good as new after 3.5 years. It was great, we rarely oiled it, just made sure not to leave standing water on it. We had a white ceramic sink that included a draining area and kind of ridge around the whole thing, so water didn't leak out much - if it does, just wipe up and don't leave it.

Nappy's sink looks perfect btw!

i like this one too from ikea , here

why do the ikea ones not have a hole for my taps to come out off?

Madamgazelle what have you decided on then?

Neverready - my sink is a sit on sink. Called Bistro 1.5 and made by Astracast if you want to google it. Not much worktop touches it so good with wood.

I am also a sink bore (last week I was an oven bore, thank goodness that's over!). I like the look of the Ikea and the Astracast one. Hmmm, looking like stainless steel then!