Finishing Wood with Danish Oil

I am still psyched about the DIY console table that I muddled through creating for my living room. I needed to fill a sort of unique spot, and it is awesome to have something custom-made for me!

I used a product I had never used before – Watco Danish Oil – to take it from mis-matched raw wood to a finished state. It was fun to work with and I’m really happy with how it turned out, so I thought I’d do a quick post just on that process.

My biggest worry with finishing this piece was getting the wood to all look the same tone, since I had used two types of wood to make the table.  The top and supports were all a very light wood, while the legs were several tones darker.

However, I really didn’t want to paint it or make it super-dark.  I have other mid-toned wood pieces in this room, and my goal for this table is for it to blend in, rather than stand out.

I had planned on  just giving it a coat of stain and poly, but in researching finishes I came across Danish Oil, and was intrigued.  Danish oil is a mixture of penetrating oil and varnish. Unlike a poly that sits and forms a shell on top of the wood, it seeps into the wood like a stain and then hardens there. What drew me to it is the prospect of an attractive, protective finish that still looks somewhat like natural wood.  Also, it comes in a variety of different stain colors.

I’ve really loved the look when I’ve used oil-products to revive old wood in the past, so I thought I’d give it a try.  I picked up a quart of the Watco brand in medium walnut (affiliate link – read our policies), and was cleverly up-sold on some staining pads because no one should shop at 9 p.m. on a Wednesday when all their willpower has drained away.

To apply, I just saturated a staining pad (a rag works, too) and wiped it onto the wood.

As you can see, the initial coat had a pretty light color, and actually made the legs look comparatively much darker… but that is OK because Danish Oil builds up its finish over multiple coats.

As I put on each coat, it would bring out some of the splotchiness of the wood (remember, the table top was just a common board from Home Depot). However, it always dried back to a nice and uniform coloration.  Here it is with the second coat dried:

As I went, I kept the sponge pretty wet, aiming to completely saturate the wood with each coat.

After letting it soak in for about 15 minutes, I wiped the table down with a clean rag to remove any excess oil (this didn’t actually happen until the final coat).

I ended up applying four coats, letting it dry for at least 24 hours in between each of them.

So, it was definitely a bit more of a time commitment than just a coat of stain and poly would have been, but I love how it turned out!

It has a slight sheen to it, but not much, and not in a fake/processed way. It matches the simple and understated look I was going for with this piece.

In the end, it did build up enough coloration to even out the differences in wood tone.

The color closely matches the other pieces I have in this room, and goes great with the green of my plants.

This will definitely be my go-to finish if when I build furniture again.  It was fun to learn!

(Sharing at Idea Box Thursday, Brag Worthy Thursday, and Think and Make Thursday)