Care

Every day, whichever you have

• Dust with a dry or slightly damp cloth, along the grain
• Never clean it soaking wet — wood and a lot of water do not go together
• No scouring pads, no bleach, no all-purpose cleaner
• Wipe up spills straight away: the longer they stand, the deeper they draw in

If your board is oiled

Oil Plus 2C is not a lacquer film over the wood but an oil that fixes itself in the fibre. That makes the care easier — you top up instead of starting over — but it does make demands on what you clean it with.

Cleaning

• Wait the first five days. The oil cures during that time. Anyone who starts with a wet cloth on day two takes the finish off before it is done.
• After that, wet cleaning at most once a week. More often is not better.
• Use a cleaner made for oiled wood. Ordinary all-purpose cleaner attacks the oil, and soap residue leaves a haze.

Re-oiling

Not on a schedule, but according to the wood. It is time when the surface feels dry or rough, or when water no longer stands on it but draws straight in. On a wall shelf that takes a long time.

• If it only feels a little dull: Universal Maintenance Oil or Refresh Eco. Apply thinly with a cloth, let it draw in, rub off the excess. No sanding needed.
• If the colour itself has worn away: Oil Plus 2C in the same colour again. Which colour you have is on your order confirmation.
• Do not use another wood oil over it. An oil not made for this system bonds poorly and leaves stains — harder to put right than the wear itself.

Mind the cloths. Cloths, pads and other materials soaked in oil can catch fire by themselves. Soak them in water after use before you throw them away — that is what the oil's maker prescribes.

Stains

A stain that has drawn in you sand away locally, always along the grain. The oil's maker prescribes finishing with the same grit the wood was originally sanded with: a finer grit closes the fibre, and then the oil takes less there than next to it. Which grit that is for your board, ask us with your order number. Then oil that part again in the same colour. Work out to a natural edge — an end, a corner — so that no difference in sheen is left in the middle.

That you can do this locally is exactly the difference from lacquer: there the whole top has to come off, here you touch up one spot.

If your board is untreated

Sanded and nothing more. The wood is open: it feels finer, colours towards honey faster and also takes up stains faster. That is not a shortcoming but a choice — you can still go any way with it later.

• Dry dusting is enough. Water quickly leaves a ring on untreated oak.
• Sand a stain away with a fine grit, along the grain, and then go over the whole surface so that it stays even.
• If you do want to protect the board after all, a natural wood oil works best. Unsure about a product? Just ask before you start: the wrong oil cannot be got out again.

Scratches belong to it

Small scratches disappear into the picture as the board gets older — that is what solid wood does and veneer does not. If a scratch bothers you anyway, it can be sanded out. With solid oak of 22 or 40 mm there is enough wood underneath to do that more than once.

Heat, sun and moisture

• Avoid long spells of direct sunlight: it makes oak discolour unevenly, and what stood in the shade stays lighter
• Do not put hot objects straight onto the board
• Strongly changing humidity makes the wood move — a millimetre of movement is normal and not a fault

Unsure about a product or an approach? Ask us before you start. Putting it right afterwards takes more effort than asking first.