I want to refinish (sand a little, remove some stains) a kitchen island butcher block top. What is the normal drying time with mineral oil to put it back in use? Or walnut oil if anyone has ever used it. Don't want to start this and have the island out of service for wife's Christmas company. That would be a bad move.
Frank
I am not aware of mineral oil catalyzing as does boiled linseed oil or whatever. An off-the-cuff guess based on it's use by me on turned bowls suggests application, followed by a rubdown. Reapply until the wood has absorbed all that it will. Then buff it out.
If it seems insufficient, you could redo again after the Holidays. You should have plenty of leftovers to eat.
I could be completely in error, however... If it ends up too greasy, you could cover it with a festive red and green dropcloth. ;-)
FWIW,
Greg G.
I've used mineral oil on cutting boards, knife handles and even a little furniture.
Mineral oil doesn't "dry". It soaks into the wood, and that which won't soak in just sits there. Rub it on generously and give it 3-4 hours to soak in. Then wipe off any excess with the proverbial clean dry cloth. It'll be back in service immediately.
DonkeyHody "Even an old blind hog finds an acorn every now and then."
mineral oil will stay oily nearly forever! It isn't going to dry like Tung oil. Plan on wiping it thoroughly.
Dave
Thank you gentlemen. I bought some walnut oil today and did a little test on the corner of the counter. Looks like it will act like the mineral oil and absorb, excess wiped off and then buff. I'll take the counter off tommorrow and do the whole thing in the shop before the festivities get in full swing.
Frank
I actually use Mineral Oil w/ some wax melted in it - just warm it up on the stove - put some wax in - let it melt - then rub it in - let it dry for about 15 mins - then buff out. The "oily" feel goes away in about an hour. (for me at least)
Be sure there are no people around with nut allergies, it could put a crimp your holidays John.
Learn rather than repeat.
Then think of a possible dose....
Everyone's right! Mineral oil doesn't ever 'dry'. A better choice is ordinary cooking oil. Peanut, Safflower, etc., but not Olive oil or animal fats. Just saturate the surface and rub out with the palm of your hand, then after 15-30 minutes wipe it off and use it. Do this every few months and it will last forever. Bugs
Now you guys are scaring me. So, maybe back to the mineral oil. Although no one in my family has the allergies, don't want to swell up any guests.
Fortunately, It is raining hard today so I postponed the job.
Frank
HUH? You must not have read it.
I wouldn't take some of that too seriously. Generally, nut oils are generally not nearly as reactive to some folks as the nut meat. It drops to a small percentage of the original group who showed a reaction to the nut meat. It seems that the more refined the oil is, the less chance of allergic reaction.
But many more people do find black walnut oil irritating to the skin. Not a full blown allergy, but a mild rash, or itch. Doesn't bother me, but I have seen more than a few people who are minimally affected. Mineral oil is probably safer. Just don't cook with it. ;-) And of course, common vegetable oils can go rancid.
FWIW,
Greg G.
Lee Valley sells a beeswax finish, which might be appropriate, here is the link
I did, but maybe I missed something or did not understand. It did not reference walnut oil specifically but talked about refined vs. cold pressed peanut oil. Cold pressed potentially dangerous?
Only walnut oil I could find is labeled as "expeller" pressed. Same as cold pressed?
Those who are sensitive to the nut meat do not show such to the oils. Used to be a better reference in the AAAAI to a study conducted by the NIH, where they couldn't get one in 1,000 known hyperreactive people to react to the pressed oil. It's 404'd now. Can't say never, but it's waaaaay beyond remote that the 0.1% of people sensitive to tree nuts will find problems with oil. Now a case if the squirts from food dissolved in non-curing mineral oil or partially oxygenated vegetable oils is another matter.
Look for the word "processed," where the oil is dehydrated with solvent to make even that remote more remote.
Just noticed that I should have been more clear on this point. This would be the oils from handling black walnut hulls and nut shells, not the walnut oil you buy at the grocery store. :-\ Black Walnut trees grow locally.
Greg G.
That's the Juglone and other phenolic nasties designed to make the husk unpalatable.
Sort of perplexing from an adaptive perspective, because the tree poisons the ground, yet does not encourage dispersal of the nuts. Normally, you'd expect a sacrificial sweet fruit to encourage dispersal, and a bitter seed - sort of like black cherry.
A little late responding, but I only just heard this last night: A FoaF can eat some form of organic peanutbutter despite an allergy to most peanuts because it is something used in the preparation of the peanuts to which he is allergic.
er
Consider the mechanism: The ripe walnut, especially a black walnut, has a very hard shell. A hard nut to crack, you might say. This is not true of the still green walnut, however, and so might be a more attractive target to the hungry squirrel were it not for the unpalatable hull.
The squirrel has adapted a strategy to obviate these difficulties insofar as it will bury the nut... not just to store or hide it, but to allow the seed to germinate and thus crack the shell itself. In this way the squirrel can find the nut after it has germinated and pry it open to enjoy the meat inside.
But the squirrel has better gardening skills than it does a memory, and some of the nuts escape the harvest and can germinate into a young tree.
er
WRONG!!!
Don't use a vegetable based oil at all. It will eventually go rancid. Use either a walnut oil ($$$) or mineral oil (cheap). Mineral oil is preferred.
Rob
Bugs wrote:
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