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Laurenhynde82 OP t1_j6csjik wrote

Reply to comment by 7LeagueBoots in Oiling wooden worktops - some areas won’t take the oil, can anyone advise? by Laurenhynde82

Thanks so much for your reply - I added some photos here https://www.reddit.com/user/Laurenhynde82/comments/10o6ofd/worktop_issue/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf

Other parts of the worktop were also worn (some more so) before I started and didn’t have this issue so I’m worried I cocked up either cleaning or sanding or something! Will try the kitchen towel idea, thanks for that :)

ETA: they were newly installed when we moved in and all nicely consistent - it was definitely overdue so it may be that we’ve just left it too long and the whole section needs refinishing. It’s just weird that I didn’t have the same issue on the other counters which had similar patches due to higher traffic

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7LeagueBoots t1_j6ctphb wrote

So, let me preface this with the, "I'm not a professional," caveat.

That doesn't look like butcherblock. Butcherblock is generally end grain oriented. This is made more like a hardwood floor, with the grain running parallel to the surface.

In a situation like that it's much more difficult for oil to penetrate the wood, and it doesn't look like you have entire pieces where adsorption is low, just sections of many pieces where it's slow.

This could be due to any number of things, but if they've been hard used some of the pores could have been crushed and are slower to adsorb fluids as a result (I used to work in a winery, and doing this intentionally was one of the ways you repaired leaking barrels). It can also easily be simply because of variations on the seasonality of wood (wood cut this way can wind up cutting within a single season's growth, and wood density varies a lot between seasons depending on water availability, temperature, wind, etc, which in turn will mean differences on how easy it is for oil to penetrate).

This doesn't look at all like a problem to me, just something that may take a bit more time and applications than you initially intended.

Apply it, and periodically give it a reapplication. Maybe every few months for 3 or 4 cycles after the initial oilings.

Someone who is a professional in this should weight in and give their opinion, but that's my take from a number of years of non-professionally working with wood.

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bad_at_hearthstone t1_j6cxw1c wrote

I am also a non-professional wood botherer and this take is mostly right. The “mostly” part is that edge grain butcher block Is A Thing, at least from the perspective of companies trying to sell countertops. Home Depot sells long grain stave countertop as “butcher block” with no mention of grain anywhere. Armani Woodworking (no relation) offers edge grain butcher block countertops with end grain offered as a premium option, though it’s hard to read their writeup and view the two options as the same product. John Boos has both edge and end grain countertops, but everything they sell as a “butcher block” has end grain top (and this is as it should be.).

Marketeering appropriation of the term “butcher’s block” aside, though, these are still pretty good countertops and your wood care advice to OP is spot on.

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Laurenhynde82 OP t1_j6cz4rn wrote

That’s super helpful, thank you. Happy to keep applying. I did a bit more work for the denibbing pad as I think maybe some of the bits weren’t as smooth as they could be but don’t think it’s made much difference to be honest.

Apologies for incorrect terminology - I didn’t install it, so I’m guessing really!

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mejelic t1_j6d22kz wrote

Just curious as to what ETA stands for in this scenario. I only know it as "Estimated Time of Arrival".

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firemastrr t1_j6d3db9 wrote

It's a Reddit(/internet?) abbreviation for "edit to add"

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mejelic t1_j6d4ab3 wrote

Ah, I generally have just seen people put "Edit:" for that.

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Zank_Frappa t1_j6dafks wrote

Yeah me too, or even just “e:”

ETA seems like a pointless acronym, and I won’t stand for it!

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mejelic t1_j6ecsgv wrote

Huzzah!!

Especially when ETA is such an already established acronym.

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ButterflyCatastrophe t1_j6d7jau wrote

That's definitely differential absorption by grain. You can see a couple of staves with glossy/matte stripes, and I'm sure those are either xylem/phloem or different years. It may be impossible to 'fill up' those areas, because the oil can literally flow through to the other side of the top.

In my experience, oil finish on butcher block is not usually glossy. That is, I would interpret the glossy areas as places where you have not wiped enough of the oil off. But I've always used mineral oil (food-safe, non-curing) for that kind of countertop. If you're using a curing oil, or an oil-varnish, then gloss might be ok.

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Laurenhynde82 OP t1_j6d8f7b wrote

The edges have remained quite shiny where they haven’t been used / touched much so I think it is just the finish on this oil. I don’t know if they used a different treatment but in the other parts of the kitchen the worktop I’ve treated now looks much more like the edges so I guess it was similar at least. I think it looks more glossy there than it is when it dries as it’s still wet

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