“I have had your oak worktops in my kitchen for some time now, and though I still love them, I want to bring them back to life at the same time as spring-cleaning the rest of my kitchen. I don’t have any specialist treatments to hand and wondered if you advise against using furniture polish?”

Answer

Whilst it may be the only solution you have to hand, we would not recommend that you use furniture polish to treat solid wood worktops. Not only are furniture polishes not a food-safe solution, but they may not react well with existing treatments you have used in the past, and – in our opinion – will give solid wood worktops a finish that is unnatural and not very attractive.

To bring your worktop back to life we would recommend that you remove all kitchen items and start by giving it a thorough wipe down with a damp cloth. Once you have cleaned the surface and allowed it to dry, check for any stains that were not removed by cleaning. More detailed advice on cleaning your worktops can be found in our ‘How to Clean Wooden Worktops’ Nutshell guide.

Now that your worktops are clean, we would suggest applying a coat of Osmo Top Oil to the entire surface. This oil brings out the natural colour and grain of the timber, whilst providing a food-safe and water-resistant finish. You can find out more about the process we recommend by reading our ‘Oiling Worktops’ information guide.

If you would prefer not to use Osmo oil, other food-safe treatments such as wax are available, but unfortunately, we wouldn’t be able to advise on a specific brand.

If you have any further queries, please don’t hesitate to contact us.