Being an enthusiast of this sort of comparison, I have formed my own thoughts on which finish is better suited to different environments and it’s actually fairly easy to make a decision on the most suitable finish for your worktop or cutting board.
Firstly, an explanation of what they actually are. The waxes and oils I refer to are the types commonly used in wood finishing.
Natural wax is an organic substance that is solid at room temperature and becomes liquid when heated. It has a degree of water resistance and resistance to fats and is usually food safe, unless it has had chemicals added to it, in which case it isn’t natural wax any more. Because it is solid when applied to wood (and even if melted first, it will quickly solidify rather than staying liquid on the surface), it does not penetrate the fibres very deeply and instead sits on the surface providing a layer between the wood and whatever you put on it. This makes it less durable than something that soaks in and means that you will need to reapply it regularly to maintain the protection. Beeswax is the most common type of wax because it’s natural, tasteless, affordable and sustainable.
Oils are liquid at room temperature and are deeply penetrating but rarely solidify. There are a few examples of natural oils that solidify such as Tung, Walnut and Linseed oil (NOT Boiled Linseed Oil, that contains chemicals including heavy metals to help it cure quickly) but even these only go semi-solid. As they soak into the wood they provide longer lasting protection but don’t give a physical barrier between the wood and the food. Also, the most common oil used for the purpose is mineral oil, which does not solidify, and this will leach out of the wood over time through the end grain.
So there we have it – wax sits on the surface, washes off with hot water and only offers a low level of protection, and oil soaks right in, doesn’t usually harden and provides more of a wood nourishing protection than the wax’s surface barrier.
Mixing the two together creates ‘Board Butter’, which gives the benefits of both waxes and oils and is a very popular way to maintain your wooden surfaces. This can be purchased online from a million different places and applied simply with a cloth, once a fortnight or so.
But there is a fourth option. One which combines the powers of everything we have discussed so far and adds wizardry to increase the protection factor hugely – Hard Wax Oils. These were originally created to treat wooden floors so they are super durable. Recently, a German company called Osmo has developed a version of their hard-wax oil called Osmo TopOil. The finish is 100% food-safe and is resistant to household substances such as alcohol, fizzy drinks, coffee, tea, fruit juices, milk and water.
Any liquid spillages will bead on the surface without leaving any marks (although the advice is that such spillages should ideally be wiped away with a cloth). The finish helps protect against bacteria, inhibits the ingress of moisture which could result in cracking, and provides a smooth, tactile surface.
The result is that the boards and worktops require infrequent oiling. Their resistance to staining is greatly improved as the waxes fill many of the tiny spaces in the grain and provide a micro-porous surface, so liquids are more inclined to sit on the timber than soak in. From first-hand experience, treating our 5 year old Oak worktops when they were first installed and doing nothing since except wiping them with surface cleaner spray, I can confirm that Osmo TopOil provides an incredible level of protection to sold wood surfaces. In case you were suspicious, I'm not supported or sponsored by Osmo, nor do I receive any money if you buy it. I just like to find the best products I can by research and trial & error because it brings me one step closer to the perfect build.
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