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Wood Worktop Care and Maintenance

Absolute Wood Care offers the Service of maintaining your wooden worktops in Manchester, we specialize in re-oiling and care of your wooden worktops to maintain their beauty and care for your investment.

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Caring for your Solid Wood Worktops

Solid hardwood kitchen worktops provide a natural beauty to your kitchen that is hard to beat, no other form of kitchen work surface has the timeless beauty and warmth that a real solid wood worktop brings to the kitchen.

One of the main advantages of a wooden worktop is that while other work surfaces age badly through use, losing their original splendour, wood gains in character, becoming richer and deeper in colour over time and becoming a part of your home in a personal way that other materials will not.

A solid wooden worktop also has the benefit of being solid all the way through. This means that if you mistreat and care for the worktop badly any surface damage or scratches can easily be sanded away to reveal a fresh new surface.

How is your wooden worktops treated?

When you receive a wooden worktop it will have been carefully sanded to a super smooth finish and will require a regular surface treatment to make it hard wearing and give it a long lasting and tough finish to keep it looking good through the years. The best finish for a solid wood worktop is oil. Oil adds depth and character to the wood that varnish and lacquers can't match, it is also simple to apply and easy to resurface should you allow the worktop to become tired looking and gives the wood a water resistant finish.

The top and front sides should receive 3 to 5 light coats, with maybe a very light sanding or wire wooling in between. The oil is best applied by pouring a little oil directly onto the worktop and spreading in the direction of the grain with a lint free cotton cloth. The oil wants to be applied in a thin, even and consistent film across the surface.

After you have applied the coat of oil, leave for about 10 minutes and then with the same cloth without applying more oil, go over the entire surface to ensure an even coating, the cloth should feel like it is gliding effortlessly across the worktop, if it isn't then the cloth is too dry and will need some oil applied to it, the oil will sink into some parts of the worktop faster than others which will make some area's look wet, after going over the wooden worktop a second time the finish should look the same across the full length of the worktop and the surface should feel slightly oily, not swimming in oil. The first coat of oil will dry very quickly in a few hours or less, the second and successive coats will take longer to dry and may need leaving for 8 hours or more.

When should I re-oil my wooden worktop?

It is important to re-oil your wooden worktop at regular intervals to maintain the durability of the oiled finish and keep the worktop looking at its best. When the worktop is newly oiled and the surface treatment is in good condition it will have a sheen to it. After a period of time the treated surface will wear and the sheen will diminish and the surface becomes dull and dry looking.

In use with a good coating of oil any spilt liquids or water should bead and form into globules, it is a sign that the wood worktop needs another coat of oil when this beading effect starts to disappear and water starts to lie flat on the work surface. A further coat of oil should be applied to the worktop between once every three to six months, depending on usage. Regular treatment of oil like this will keep your wooden worktops looking like new for many years.

In general a well maintained and looked after worktop will look good for many, many years. However if your wood worktop starts to show signs of wear and tear and become a little grubby it can very easily be brought back to looking like brand new. Depending on the severity of the wear, the treatment will vary.

For regularly maintained surfaces that are just a little dry looking, a good clean with soapy warm water first, then, when the wood is completely dry, several thin applications of worktop oil. Do not be tempted to apply a really thick coat as it is nowhere near as effective as several thin ones.

If your worktop is damaged, dirty or very badly in need of renovation, it can be sanded down with some fine sandpaper. For larger, more extensive damage/dents, coarser paper can be used but then graded down to fine for the final sanding. Any severe damage or dents can be filled with suitable coloured wood filler and then sanded.

Several coats of oil are then applied again as if the wood worktop was new. Small localised areas of damage such as a ring mark for example can be removed by a very light sanding in that area alone and then re-application of the oil. If the worktop changes colour during this activity and shows a light patch then all that has happened is that you have sanded to bear wood. This area will very quickly go the same colour as the rest of the worktop on exposure to natural light and is nothing to worry about.

The different types of oil for wood worktops

Tung oil, Tung is a tree that is found in China and Africa and some South American countries.

Linseed oil is extracted from the seeds of the flax plant by steaming, crushing them. Raw linseed oil is boiled to remove impurities and helps to make the oil dry faster.

Danish oil is simply a mix of various oils such as Tung and Linseed Oil with some additives to aid drying.

Teak oil is fundamentally a mixture of various oils extracted from vegetables.

How do I clean my wood worktops?

To clean a hardwood worktop is a wipe down with a cloth dipped in warm soapy water and well squeezed out.

The DOs and DON'Ts of Wooden Worktop Care

Always mop up spills of water and other liquids straight away. Do not allow liquids to stand for any period of time. The finishing oil is water resistant not waterproof. Attention should be made at the sink area, get into the habit of wiping down the work surface after use at the sink and leave the worktop in a dry state. Do not stand wet pots and pans on the worktop and leave for any length of time.

Always stand hot, dirty or rough pans on a trivet or pan stand or hot rods. Lengthy prolonged contact with metals such as iron and steel can cause black staining on the kitchen wooden worktop, this is caused by the natural chemicals in the wood reacting with the metal, so avoid leaving iron trivets standing on the worktop.

Always use cutting boards to chop food. Do not cut directly on to your wooden worktop.

Maintain the oiled finish at regular intervals, you can't over do this.

So for all your wooden worktop needs please call Absolute Wood Care in Manchester on 07962 532 526

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