Not oiling a wooden worktop (kitchen)

I'm considering some new worktops - ye olde plastic laminate type or wood. Wondering about the fuss over "oiling" the wood ones or not. It's probably going to be cherry if that matters. (Or something similar light red but not beech)

Worktops will be mainly used for baking - bread making, cakes, etc. Unlikely to ever have hot tomato/curry sauces split for example. One will have a sink in it.

So what's the deal on leaving them unoiled and just making sure they're scrubbed clean and dried after use?

Or am I better off sticking to plastic. (stone isn't an option)

Any feedback appreciated.

Cheers,

Gordon

Reply to
Gordon Henderson
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Obvious one is that tannins in tea or split wine will react with traces of iron in the wood unless you either oil or beeswax it to make it close to waterproof. It is quite hard to match the finish exactly when spills of hot liquids or alcohol take the shine off the surface.

I would oil or beeswax a kitchen top or table for this reason. YMMV

Reply to
Martin Brown

The deal is that underslung sinks leave an undriable lip that rots, and wives brought up on Formica and stainless steel haven't a forking clew and destroy the wood.

Reply to
The Natural Philosopher

In article , Gordon Henderson writes

I'm in a similar spot and am drifting away from wooden ones. I don't see those made of little blocks glued together as very impressive so if I went wood I'd probably want ones made of serious planks (100mm wide,

40mm deep and full length) with a complimentary machined edges to hold everything together in the long term. Those specs make wood a very expensive option and I just don't like it enough spend a lot of money on them. I'd like a near black deeply embedded stain too but I don't think that is possible.

I think postformed (rounded) edge plastic worktops are a bit yesterday but I have seen some nice looking ones with squared off edges and particularly like ones with a contrasting edge strip. I'd always take one with a slight texture on top as I think they look better and you're not constantly wiping off fingermarks. One of these would be my choice.

Stone worktops have never done anything for me.

Reply to
fred

I had oak worktops in my last kitchen and this one will probably be iroko (when I get to doing it). I oiled them from the start, so don't know what they would be like without, but oiling really isn't that big a deal: Clear them off, wipe the oil over and go (to work, to bed, the pub, on holiday, whatever). It doesn't take long to dry unless you put it on too thick, when it will go gummy, but that's easily sorted. The oak never really looked oiled, but water would bead on the surface, which I took to be a good thing as it meant it couldn't soak in and stain. As water doesn't soak in to any significant extent, there's no real problem with around a sink - laminate ones are much worse in this respect and can swell up and flake the surface off if water gets into the chipboard base. Cherry looks nice but as it's quite pale it could get tatty pretty quickly if things start to soak in and stain it. The other thing I would advise is to plan on routing a radius or a chamfer on the edge. Wood worktops are nearly always square and the slightest knock will make a small chip, which you'll notice forever. Somehow, a radius doesn't suffer that problem IME but, if you put a small one on to start, it can always be refinished if it does take a big clonk.

Reply to
GMM

For what it's worth, mine are done with Liberon oil.

The actual worktops are pitch pine which I am assured is pretty bombproof with respect to water. That remains to be seen...

BTW - be careful machining the iroko - the dust is supposed to be not too good for you.

Reply to
Tim Watts

I think this excellent advice. Nick.

Reply to
Nick

Purely out of interest, why is stone not an option? Nick.

Reply to
Nick

Wooden tops are good looking but hopelessly unhygienic

Reply to
stuart noble

Er no. Ive seen NHS nurses preparing skin grafts on wooden blocks. Wood is actually quite antiseptic.

Reply to
The Natural Philosopher

I disagree. Finished properly they are as good as most other materials.

And they are more maintainable (ie you can sand a burn mark out and recoat). They're also kinder to crockery.

But poor quality wood (like that birch strip crap all the sheds sell) is a nightmare.

Reply to
Tim Watts

Consider tiles on 1" WBP plywood. Totally heatproof, easy to clean, use wood edging, varnished. Refinish wood after 20 years. Can be cracked if you drop cast iron dishes on them, but easy to repair if you have spare tiles. Cracked 1 tile in 40yrs.

Reply to
Capitol

I agree tiles do make an interesting and practical surface. Did you do anything special with the grout? Only IME it's the grout that gets filthy and resistant to cleaning...

Reply to
Tim Watts

According to gov guidelines "surfaces need to be made of materials that are smooth, washable, corrosion-resistant and non-toxic" I wouldn't regard wood as smooth or washable, and it is certainly capable of absorbing liquids

Reply to
stuart noble

But there is a long standing notion that it does have antiseptic properties.

It can't be too bad or butchers would not have wooden chopping tables soaked in blood all day.

Reply to
Tim Watts

We won't get it up the stairs.

Gordon

Reply to
Gordon Henderson

Originally, I used grout powder with a mix of vinyl silk and enamel paint. It was a pig to do as you had to allow at least 24hrs for it to set and then rub it down with a golden fleece and lots of water. It stayed just fractionally flexible, so there were no cracks. Later, I used epoxy grout when changing over the sink and having to redo part of the surface as the sink was a different shape. The great advantage is that a really hot pan goes straight down onto the surface without damaging it. All the other surfaces (except perhaps stainless) can't withstand this and also need sealing if granite etc. It's painless to clean IME.

Reply to
Capitol

Thanks for that - most interesting.

Was the epoxy grout difficult to work with?

Reply to
Tim Watts

That's exactly what EHO's were claiming in the early 90's when successfully closing down butchers shops, craft cheese makers who relied on wooden shelving and even the naval tradition of stirring rum with an oar on Trafalgar Day.

Then a few years later after all the damage was done it was found thet wood had antibacterial properties and was in fact more hygenich than plastic. In short wood absorbs bacteria by capillary action where they eventally die whereas bacteria can thrive in microscopic cuts in plastic boards.

Our research was first intended to develop means of disinfecting wooden cutting surfaces at home, so that they would be almost as safe as plastics. Our safety concern was that bacteria such as Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Salmonella, which might contaminate a work surface when raw meat was being prepared, ought not remain on the surface to contaminate other foods that might be eaten without further cooking. We soon found that disease bacteria such as these were not recoverable from wooden surfaces in a short time after they were applied, unless very large numbers were used. New plastic surfaces allowed the bacteria to persist, but were easily cleaned and disinfected. However, wooden boards that had been used and had many knife cuts acted almost the same as new wood, whereas plastic surfaces that were knife-scarred were impossible to clean and disinfect manually, especially when food residues such as chicken fat were present. Scanning electron micrographs revealed highly significant damage to plastic surfaces from knife cuts.

Although the bacteria that have disappeared from the wood surfaces are found alive inside the wood for some time after application, they evidently do not multiply, and they gradually die. They can be detected only by splitting or gouging the wood or by forcing water completely through from one surface to the other. If a sharp knife is used to cut into the work surfaces after used plastic or wood has been contaminated with bacteria and cleaned manually, more bacteria are recovered from a used plastic surface than from a used wood surface.

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michael adams

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Reply to
michael adams

Well, that's nice to know that what my mother knew in 1960 (she had a diploma in hotel and catering management) has been proven by science.

This is why I ignore ignorant faddy ideas - at least until they are verified.

BTW - the fact that plastic boards are unhygenic seems obvious to me. Their only pluses are kind to knives and can be semi-sterilised in the dishwasher which is the only reason I don't like wood.

I'm using a resin bonded paper board. Still scratches but no where near as deeply as a knife gouges plastic and still dishwashable.

Reply to
Tim Watts

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