Walk down the finishing aisle and you'll find more oil finishes than you can count: linseed, tung, walnut, teak, Danish, hard wax oils, and dozens of custom blends, each one promising beauty and protection. Part 2 digs into the oil side of finishing: what these finishes are great at, where they fall short, and how to get the look of an oil finish with the protection of a film finish.
The M2 Finishing Guide
- Film vs. Penetrating Wood Finishes
- Oil Finishes and Hard Wax Oils (you are here)
- How to Sand for a Smooth Finish
- How to Apply Wood Finish
The Big Decision: Maintenance or Durability?
In my opinion, no matter what the label claims, an oil or penetrating finish is not going to be as durable as a film finish. (We get into why in Part 1.) That doesn't make oil finishes bad. It means you have to decide what matters most on each project: beautiful but higher-maintenance, or tough and long-lasting.
What oils have going for them is looks. Because they soak deep into the wood, they bring out color, tone and depth in the grain better than anything else. Look at the pine board at the top of this post: the oiled half turns a rich amber, while the bare half stays pale.
Straight Oils: Beautiful, but They Don't Last
Boiled linseed oil, walnut oil, teak oil and cutting board oil are thin, almost as runny as water, and they look gorgeous going on.
If you've ever made a cutting board, you know the story. You wipe on the oil and it looks amazing. You come back three days later and it looks dry as a bone. The oil has soaked deeper into the wood or cured inside the fibers, and nothing is left on the surface. There's no layer protecting the wood, just oil in the wood. Add normal use and washing, and that protection keeps wearing away.
If you choose a straight oil finish, plan on regular maintenance, re-oiling every so often, to keep it looking good.
Oil and Varnish Blends: The 3-2-1 Finish
To get a little more protection out of an oil finish, woodworkers mix oil-based film finishes with penetrating oils. You'll mostly see this on the oil-based side. One of the most popular blends is the 3-2-1 finish, popularized by furniture maker Greg Paolini:
- 3 parts mineral spirits (paint thinner)
- 2 parts oil-based polyurethane
- 1 part boiled linseed oil
What each part does:
- Boiled linseed oil is the penetrating oil. It's famous for bringing out the beauty in wood, but it's slow, and a heavy coat can take a week or more to fully dry.
- Mineral spirits thins the mix so it goes on in thin coats and dries faster.
- Polyurethane adds a little bit of a protective film.
The result is very, very pretty. But understand how thin that protective layer is. Each coat leaves only a tiny amount of poly behind, and it's realistic to need 20 coats before you build up any real layer of finish.
⚠️ Safety tip: Rags soaked with boiled linseed oil and other drying oils can heat up and catch fire on their own as they dry. Never leave them balled up or in a pile. Lay them flat to dry outside, or store them in a sealed metal container filled with water.
Hard Wax Oils: Easy and Pretty, but Not Bulletproof
Hard wax oils have become very popular with woodworkers, and it's easy to see why:
- They're beautiful.
- They're incredibly easy to apply. I can't think of anything easier. Wipe it on, wipe it off.
- You can apply them any time of year, with no special equipment.
They're not cheap. A small can often runs $40 to $50 or more. But the ease of use wins a lot of people over.
Still, remember why we finish wood in the first place. Yes, it's so it looks nice, but it's also to protect it. Hard wax oils offer short-term protection at best. You'll find plenty of videos of water beading up on a fresh hard wax oil finish, but a freshly oiled cutting board does the same thing. The problem is what happens over time: the finish wears down, and once it does, the wood is unprotected.
A Real-World Lesson
A friend of mine built 20 tables for a restaurant and finished them all with a popular hard wax oil, one a lot of people consider super durable. Within two weeks, the restaurant was threatening to sue him unless he came back and refinished every table, because they were all stained and ruined.
Restaurant tables are about the toughest test a finish can face, but it makes the point: penetrating finishes are nowhere near as durable as a film finish.
The Best of Both Worlds: Oil Under a Film Finish
If you want the deep, rich color of an oil finish and the protection of a film finish, there's a better way than 20 coats of a blend:
- Apply your oil or penetrating finish to bring out the color.
- Let it dry completely. This is the step people rush.
- Apply a film finish, like lacquer, varnish or polyurethane, over the top.
You get the color from the oil and the protection from the film.
- If both finishes are oil-based, there's not much risk.
- If your topcoat is water-based, which is what we use for almost everything in our shop, be extra careful. The oil underneath has to be 100% dry before the water-based film goes on, or the topcoat can fail to bond. Follow the dry time on the can and test on a scrap piece first. Many finishers also add a thin barrier coat of dewaxed shellac between the oil and a water-based topcoat for extra insurance.
The Takeaway
- Straight oils look gorgeous but need regular re-oiling.
- The 3-2-1 blend adds a little protection, but it takes many coats to build a real layer.
- Hard wax oils are the easiest finish to apply, but they're not durable enough for heavy-use surfaces.
- For color and protection, put an oil under a film finish, and let the oil dry completely first.
- Oil finishes shine on mantles, shelves, bookcases, cutting boards and decor.
Next up, Part 3: How to Sand for a Smooth Wood Finish
Looking for a piece that would look great with an oil finish? Our solid wood mantles are a perfect fit. For cutting boards and low-wear pieces, we carry Walrus Oil.