Furniture, Wood and Cabinetry Finishing - Using Tung Oil on wood countertops?

Hello,

I have been looking through old threads on this forum, as well as poking around at other websites, trying to find advice about the following:

We have purchased oak countertops from Ikea for our kitchen. We don't plan to treat them like butcher block, instead, we'd like to put a food safe finish on them that will protect the wood and give more of a "finished" look. Then we'll use cutting boards, etc., on top.

I've been reading about tung oil and it sounds like a good candidate. However, I haven't seen any specific comments about its use on countertops. Does anyone have experience in this area?

Thanks in advance,
Nancy

I use to use tung oil all the time, until my tounge started getting dry. :D

If you're not going to prepare food on it, then it would be ok, but not the most durable finish. You'd be better off with some type of polyurathane Less coats and less time.

Polyurethane was my first instinct here, since we just refinished the floors, but I was concerned about putting it where I would also be putting food. I wouldn't literally eat off of the counter, but would I have to change the habit of making a sandwich directly on the counter, etc. ? I don't want to treat the counter like it's fragile or toxic. I'm not OCD about chemicals versus all natural, but we're talking about hopefully decades of use.

Thanks so much for replying.

N

Once cured, modern finishes are not toxic.

Excuse my complete rookieness here, but when you say "once the finish is cured", does that mean something further than dried? For example, the guy who did our floors told me not to put down area rugs for a few weeks, although the floors were dry enough to walk on and put furniture down on.

I guess my question is, if I use polyurethane for the counters, would I need to do anything further to make it foodsafe, or would it just be a question of time for it to be as dry as possible?

Thanks so much for the help.

The only dumb questions are the ones you should have asked - and didn't. All of his here were rookies once upon a time, and I still earn from this site every day.

Pick up a can of polyurethane and read the label directions. This will give you the time frame for a "cured" finish - it varies from product to product.

Cured simply means (in the case of polyurethane) that the solvents have completely evaporated and the chemical action to convert from a liquid to solid is complete.

FYI - the finish of choice for baby cribs for many years was shellac - it cured in hours and was completely non toxic. Wouldn't suggest it for a counter top though as it's not strong enough for that kind of wear and tear

Well, if you're determined to do-it-yourself, (which is fine, for sure) I'd NOT use Tung oil. Looks are fine, but it just doesn't hold up (scratch on the surface=scratch in the wood, not good for a countertop).

Polyurethane is fine. And I'll second, and third, the comment that it's non-toxic once cured. Keep kids away from it until it cures (takes several hours) and be gentle with it for a week or two, b/c it takes that long for it to really, really, really reach full hardness.

You can buy a pour-on bartop resin from places like Sherwin-Williams or other paint stores, and this is a very, very thick and very hard/durable material. Just a pain to get to lay evenly over a large countertop and you have to blow on it occasionally while it cures to keep the bubbles out of it. But it's a great product. Non-toxic when cured.

Your third choice, and maybe best, is to call around to various cabinet shops and/or painters and find someone that can finish it *for* you, and use finishes that are light-years superior to anything you can get at Home Depot. Getting the tops done before installing them is a big plus in this regard. Sprayed and cured in a controlled environment.

Specify that you want either conversion varnish (great) or post-catalyzed polyurethane(really, really great), and you'll want a dull finish which will mask any wear on it over the years. They both are actually post-cat, meaning that an acid catalyst is added to the mix to cause the material to crosslink molecules together into a bond so tight, so strong that virtually NO solvent a normal person will ever run across will harm the finish, and they are very scuff resistant. Oddly, they are thin coatings, not thick, which thin stuff shows the beauty of wood. Non-toxic when cured, just as above.

If doing it myself (ignoring the fact that am a cabinet builder) I'd use the bar top resin. For a few dollars more I'd have a pro finish it with post-cat poly.

Thanks for all the helpful advice, everyone. I'm going to talk to our contractor tomorrow, and while I am leaning towards trying to do this all myself, with polyurethane, we'll see. I will post back and let y'all know how it comes out (also for the next person looking for advice on the same thing!) ;)

Nancy