We don't chop on our wood counters—like most people, we use cutting boards for food prep—but we definitely do a lot of handwashing when it comes to pots and pans. And when we do, we tend to leave them to air dry on the countertop. If this sounds like you, oil will not be enough protection. Water is simply too invasive when it comes to wood, and black mold spots will eventually win out (see photos). The rookie mistake I made: I thought it was important for our sealant to be food safe, but if you use cutting boards, this is a non-issue. For the way we live, our countertops need to be water resistant.
Here's how I sanded down the wood countertops, treated the water mold stains, then stained and sealed them with polyurethane.
Before
Almost 10 years of wear and tear could be read in the black mold spots, wine stains, and rusty circles from bottles and cans left sitting on our countertops:
During
To recover the finish, the first thing I did was sand down the top layer with 100 grit sandpaper (medium coarse).
Then I treated the stained areas with an oxygen bleaching agent.
Sadly, the very worst stains were still there after the oxygen bleach, so the following weekend, I spot treated those with hydrogen peroxide and that did help somewhat.
In some areas the wood responded beautifully. So I sanded again, this time with a 200 grit (fine) sandpaper, followed by a coat of wood conditioner, followed by a coat of "natural" stain. By the time I'd finished this, they looked almost new again.
After
I let the stain sit for a week, then I followed up with a coat of low-sheen polyurethane and let that sit for a week.
I have to say, they're looking pretty good now. But only time will tell.
220 grit is much finer than 110. You probably have those backwards.
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteWould love to know how this has held up, especially around sink and cooktop.
ReplyDeleteHi Erin, If I had polyeurethened it when it was installed, I'm confident it would have held up beautifully. As it is, we had about 7 years of trying to protect it with butcher block oil, and it wasn't a good enough sealant around the sink. When I refinished it I had to sand out so many black spots around the sink. Now that it's sealed, it's holding up well. I'll snap a photo for you in May when we open the cottage for summer.
ReplyDeleteWhat brand did you use?
ReplyDeleteAny clear satin would work but I used Minwax: https://www.minwax.com/wood-products/clear-protective-finishes/interior/minwax-fastdrying-polyurethane
Deletelooks good, I am getting ready to do this in my remodel, the slabs are aging to my humidity levels of house now. I thought I wanted to use mineral, tung, danish oils but started reading about the oils soaking up into items left on the tops. lets say this, I'm a single guy with a dog and I live in my house stuff is always on my countertops. I want to try to keep as natural blonde as possible no stains.
ReplyDeleteYou can just do the poly without the stain. I'd give them a good sand, wipe down with tack cloth and vacuum to get all the sawdust out, and give them a coat of clear matte poly.
DeleteHow have they held up so far in comparison to the oils?
ReplyDeleteThey've held up so much better after applying poly. I don't have to sand out black mold stains anymore.
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