Re-oiling worktop

have a wood (American Walnut) worktop. It's been used in the kitchen for some, and some places are in need of refinishing.

Fairly sure I've got something basic wrong here, so I'll describe what I did.

I sanded back (sanding with the grain) the damaged patches with 80, then 120, then 180 grit, and wiped all dust off.

I then oiled with a rag and Liberon Superior Danish.

In some places the oil took nicely, as expected. In others, it was immediately obvious that there was a problem. The surface remained matt, almost greyish - in the worst places it looked as though the oil was mixed with dust. Now it has dried, all these matt patches are still matt, still look like they have much less oil on them, and look pretty poor when the sun shines at the wrong angle.

Thoughts? Found one suggestion that I should use white spirit (or meths?) to ensure all the dust was removed, but this doesn't seemed to be mentioned on any of the guides to oiling worktops that I've looked at.

Reply to
ben
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You will typically need several thin coats to build up a good finish. So oil again, leave a few mins and then wipe off any excess. Allow to dry for a day, and then repeat several times.

Reply to
John Rumm

Good advice from john. I can't see exactly what you are doing but the wiping off of excess is important and often not understood. If you varnish wood you are trying to build up a film over the surface. With oil you are absolutely not wanting any oil left sitting on the surface. You are trying to saturate the wood until it is no longer porous.

In principle you can refinish patches of oiled wood without doing the whole surface. the wood will begin to have a slight sheen after several applications. If the colour has changed then there isn't much you can do about that if it's the effect of light, moisture and oxidation over time. TW

Reply to
TimW

Yup you can get away with not wiping off on the last couple of coats if you use *very thin* final coats, and let them dry fully. (application with one of those foam brushes can work)

But otherwise too much left on the surface will just make it feel sticky and stop it curing properly.

IIRC I did either 4 or 5 coats of Danish oil on the American Black Walnut I used here:

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You can see it has a slight lustre (see reflection of window stay in the windowsill), but its quite subtle and satin.

You can see it a bit more with a front on flash photo of a door:

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The real test is what happens when you get it wet. Here the water just sits on the top in a bead, and does not actually "wet" the surface.

Reply to
John Rumm

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