Wiping varnish for kitchen tops?

[Beau]

Our American walnut wortops are looking tired and need some love. Originally I used Liberon finishing oil but instead of wiping off all the excess left a surface cover. It looked like it was lightly varnished and and has been fantastically hard waring considering the abuse we give it. Now I have seen on here mention that drying oils and varnishes are pretty much the same thing so wondering if it might be easier and tougher using a varnish wiped on?

Any tips and varnish brands to do this would be most welcome. Not settled on this for a finish yet so if there are any great new products that are suitable I am all ears. I do want something that will have the depth of colour oils bring out and plenty of protection from water as we are not the best at drying things off after washing up.

Thanks

 

[John Brown]

I use Osmo top oil.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

It would depend upon to what degree you're going to strip them - Osmo wouldn't work well on top of existing finishing oil, good as it is.

 

[John Brown]

Agreed.
But wouldn't that be the case with pretty much any "wiping varnish"?

 

[Peterm1000]

I use Osmo top oil.

+1 for a hard wax oil. We have oak worktops that have been there for a decade. I just refinished them at the weekend - an hour's sanding, 2 coats of Osmo Polyx and they look the same as they did when they were installed. You can just wipe extra finish on patches as the finish wears through.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Agreed.
But wouldn't that be the case with pretty much any "wiping varnish"?

Not really - varnish, danish oil and finishing oil are all variations on a theme - there's no reason why they shouldn't go on top of each other. Osmo and the like need to soak in.

 

[Beau]

I use Osmo top oil.

How different is this from the poly X?

 

[John Brown]

I believe it's very similar. Their website may be more use than me.

 

[Beau]

I believe it's very similar. Their website may be more use than me.

Thanks. Probably not for me then. I know it's not fashionable but I quite like a slightly glossy finish. My experience with Osmo Poly X was it left a very matt finish. Great for some jobs but not what I am wanting on our kitchen tops.

 

[Nelsun]

They do have glossier versions besides their flat matt affair. It's great stuff

 

[Beau]

They do have glossier versions besides their flat matt affair. It's great stuff

My experience with it has not been good. I did our coffee table with it and it didn't have much depth of colour and has marked far worse than the overly thick Liberon finishing oil on our worktops. It does look like a thin varnish but the level of protection has far exceeded the Osmo.

 

[Peterm1000]

I believe it's very similar. Their website may be more use than me.

Thanks. Probably not for me then. I know it's not fashionable but I quite like a slightly glossy finish. My experience with Osmo Poly X was it left a very matt finish. Great for some jobs but not what I am wanting on our kitchen tops.

I use the Satin finish Polyx - there is a definite shine. Like a very well waxed piece of furniture. I also have some Bona Hard Wax oil and that gives a more varnish looking finish

 

[Beau]

Any recommends for a good varnish for this application?

 

[disco_monkey79]

I use Osmo top oil.

+1 for a hard wax oil. We have oak worktops that have been there for a decade. I just refinished them at the weekend - an hour's sanding, 2 coats of Osmo Polyx and they look the same as they did when they were installed. You can just wipe extra finish on patches as the finish wears through.

Hi

Would you mind posting a pic of the worktop with that finish? I'm currently in the planning stage, and was pondering this very thing with oak.

Only if it's no bother though.

Thanks

 

[will1983]

I did a window sill make over for a customer last weekend, used solid Kerruing and finished it with Osmo PolyX Tints - Honey (3071).

I was a little concerned about the colour of the bare timber as it was a little grey and cold but the PolyX transformed it, lovely warm colour and a mid satin sheen to it.

Customer was chuffed too, so that's a bonus.

 

[Beau]

Seems almost everyone likes Poly X except me. You guys can recommend it all you like but I am not going to use after previous experience. Once bitten and all that. No other oil I have ever used was so disappointing for darker woods. I would take Teak, Danish or Finishing oil over it any day of week and save a few quid to boot.

I found this post when search wiping varnish that might explain what I see when looking at Osmo.

"A word about Osmo of which I am not a fan for furniture although I will happily use it on internal doors and suchlike.

The point about furniture so far as I am concerned is that it is designed to be beautiful both in terms of its design and the way it uses the qualities of the wood it is made from to enhance that beauty. Ordinary oil based polys are completely clear in the tin and that translates into the finish on the wood, so none of the inherent beauty of the wood is diminished by the finish; indeed, the addition of a smooth clear coat on the surface can enhance those qualities by preventing the diffraction of light reflected from the wood by its inherently unsmooth cellular surface structure. Conversely, the opacity of Osmo in the tin translates to the wood by dulling the return of light from the wood surface. This is most apparent on highly lustrous woods such as rippled sycamore but is evident to some degree with any of the hardwoods you would want to use for a really nice piece of furniture. The fact that ordinary polys are both cheaper and more durable is a bonus."

 

[Peterm1000]

I use Osmo top oil.

+1 for a hard wax oil. We have oak worktops that have been there for a decade. I just refinished them at the weekend - an hour's sanding, 2 coats of Osmo Polyx and they look the same as they did when they were installed. You can just wipe extra finish on patches as the finish wears through.

Hi

Would you mind posting a pic of the worktop with that finish? I'm currently in the planning stage, and was pondering this very thing with oak.

Only if it's no bother though.

Thanks

Here you go... hopefully you can see the sheen. This is the satin finish.

 

[woodbloke66]

Thanks. Probably not for me then. I know it's not fashionable but I quite like a slightly glossy finish. My experience with Osmo Poly X was it left a very matt finish. Great for some jobs but not what I am wanting on our kitchen tops.

I've been playing around with wax finish acrylic varnish over the last couple of days. I'm quite impressed with it, the beauty being that you can apply several coats quite rapidly...but, a better finish is achieved when it's applied thinly with a cloth (as opposed to a brush) and cut down with 600g Abranet 'twixt each coat. Four coats gives a decent satin/gloss finish, finally cutting back the last coat with 0000g steel wool - Rob

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Link doesn't work.

 

[craigs]

English oak with a glossy finish, grain pops amazingly well. Osmo Poly X gloss, I didn't fill the grain as I wanted the texture.