How to easily treat wood butcher block counters so they will resist moisture and last forever!
Contrary to popular belief, wood countertops are not hard to take care of! If you treat them correctly up front, they will last for decades (even around a sink).
One of the top five questions I get about our house (and our old one!) is about our butcher block countertops. We’ve had wood counters on our islands for around 15 years now.
I shared how to protect bare wood counters a few years ago, so check out that post to see more detail. I also share how I stained the butcher block in that post.
This time I wanted to show you how well they have held up over the past eight years and share how I retreat them every year or so:
It’s really best to reapply this every six months or so…but as you’ll see, it’s not absolutely necessary. Ours have held up beautifully even after a year or more.
Overall, the whole island counter has lightened from use, and it was uniform. The only part that was slightly darker was under the tray that I use for hand and dish soap:
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Nearly EVERYTHING is easily cleaned off of the wood counters. We’ve had water condensation sit for hours, water spills, wine, cat vomit 😖 — all of it. If you treat them well like I’ll show you, you won’t have any issues keeping them clean.
The only thing that I haven’t been able to remove is permanent marker:
The great thing is, you can sand that down and get rid of it.
When I’ve treated the counters within six to 18 months, the reapplication process is super easy and quick.
Today I did it again after well over two years, so I did a very light sanding of the wood counters, then proceeded with the rest of the steps…
Whether sanding or not, wipe them down well — I use a damp microfiber cloth:
Let it dry thoroughly and then you can start adding the Tung oil. Tung oil has been used for centuries and is by far my favorite way to protect wood.
This is the brand I’ve used for years:
I’ve also used the Minwax brand and that works well. (It looks like Minwax now owns Formby’s.)
I have also tried true, pure Tung oil and do not like it as much. It takes absolutely forever to dry.
To apply you’ll want a glove to protect your hands and a low lint rag. I just pour the oil out and start spreading:
It instantly warms up the wood! 😍
The oil really brings back that deeper, beautiful wood tone:
Rub it in well, then go over it again immediately while your cloth is wet.
You’ll want to make sure you get full coverage. This is why I prefer to do this treatment at night — I use the sheen of the lights to look for spots that I may not have covered well:
Let it sit for a few minutes, then use a clean rag to wipe up an excess. Continue to rub it in until you get a uniform finish:
Another reason I like to apply the oil at night — we can leave it to fully dry without touching. Usually one recoat is dry in a few hours.
Tung oil is truly the easiest and best way to protect wood countertops:
Even with our sink in the island, we’ve had zero warping or damage in our walnut wood countertops!
I LOVE this stuff and the warmth and character of wood counters! I’ve heard from many readers over the years who have been warned off of them by contractors.
Are they completely maintenance free? Nope. But if you protect them well they will hold up beautifully with minimal effort.
If you have any questions about wood counters please let me know! 🙂