Oil finishes are generally used on wooden furnishings and kitchen utensils. Usually talking, oil finishes are eco-friendly, food-safe, and non-toxic. They’re additionally straightforward to restore and produce a extra textured grain sample than many alternate options. They are usually thought of a extra conventional end, as oils have been used as wooden finishes for hundreds of years.
Nonetheless, oil finishes typically do not supply the identical stage of safety and sturdiness that you just’d discover with a lacquer or varnish.
Listed here are 5 of probably the most generally used oil finishes:
1. Linseed Oil
Linseed oil, also called flaxseed oil, is among the hottest wooden finishes on the earth. Like different hand-rubbed oil finishes, linseed oil saturates deep into the wooden grain to guard towards scratches and modifications in humidity. It’s straightforward to look after, eco-friendly, and produces a satin end that basically brings out the colour and grain of the wooden beneath.
Uncooked, polymerized, and boiled linseed oil are all derived from the flaxseed plant, however have been processed in another way and to various levels. Uncooked linseed oil is the purest kind, however is usually impractical as a furnishings end as a result of prolonged drying times- it may well take a number of weeks for every coat of uncooked linseed oil to remedy. Boiled linseed oil is widespread as a wooden end, however incorporates some probably hazardous drying compounds. Polymerized linseed oil is the perfect of each worlds: pure and non-toxic with fast drying instances.
2. Tung Oil
Tung oil is a plant-based oil used as a wooden end. It’s clear, quick-drying, and penetrates the grain to boost and shield the wooden. It’s one of many oldest and hottest wooden finishes on the earth and is derived from the seeds of the tung tree in Japanese Asia. Tung oil has develop into a staple amongst high-quality furnishings craftsmen in the USA and past. It’s eco-friendly, non-toxic, and food-safe.
Tung oil is derived from urgent the seeds of the tung tree, which is native to Japanese Asia. The oil has been cultivated and utilized in China as a wooden end for at the least 2,500 years.
Equally to linseed oil, it’s troublesome to search out furnishings that’s made with uncooked or 100% pure tung oil. Many craftsmen will use boiled or polymerized tung oil, and it’s additionally widespread for producers to mislabel merchandise as tung oil once they’re not. If you happen to’re excited about a tung oil end, it’s value doing a little bit of digging to know precisely what end is getting used and what it’s comprised of. You’ll find pure tung oil from Actual Milk Paint.
There are numerous causes a craftsman would possibly think about using tung oil to complete wooden furnishings. It’s all pure, non-toxic, and eco-friendly, and it doesn’t yellow as a lot over time as widespread finishes like linseed oil, nitrocellulose lacquer, or varnishes like polyurethane. For extra concerning the distinction between linseed oil and tung oil, try our article on the topic.
3. Mineral Oil
Mineral oil is a broadly used time period to explain a transparent, odorless oil. Most frequently, mineral oil refers to a spinoff of petroleum. Regardless of this, mineral oil is mostly seen as non-toxic and meals secure. In actual fact, it is particularly widespread on slicing boards, wooden kitchen utensils, wooden bowls, and another wooden merchandise that regularly come into contact with meals. It is also a typical ingredient in child oil, as it has been examined and accredited for dermatological use.
Though mineral oil is non-toxic and meals secure, it isn’t used typically as a end for wooden furnishings, as different oils on this listing supply extra fascinating traits.
4. Walnut Oil
Walnut oil is derived from the nuts of the juglans regia tree, a relative of juglans nigra (which produces the black walnut wooden utilized in our furnishings). Walnut oil, like mineral oil, is usually used on slicing boards and kitchen utensils attributable to it is food-safe properties. Uncooked walnut oil, like linseed oil and tung oil, possesses a reasonably lengthy drying time, so it isn’t unusual for walnut oil to be lower with mineral spirits (boiling) or heated (polymerized) to hurry up the time it takes for the oil to remedy.
5. Danish Oil
Danish oil is a brilliant widespread end amongst woodworkers, though it is not clearly outlined. Equally to mineral oil, the time period danish oil can apply to many various substances. In actual fact, the paradox with danish oil is much more extreme. The time period “Danish Oil” is mainly a catch all time period for any oil-based wooden end.
Danish oil typically incorporates tung oil or linseed oil together with a number of different elements– thickeners, thinners, drying brokers, binding compounds, and extra. Often, danish oil finishes are a mix of some sort of varnish with both tung oil or linseed oil, however not at all times.
For instance, Tried & True sells a polymerized linseed oil below the commerce title of “Danish Oil.”
Study extra about wooden finishes or store for oiled wooden furnishings.
