Howard Butcher Block Conditioner over Minwax Stain?

10 years ago

I have a solid piece of lyptus that I'm going to use as a bar counter in my kitchen. It's about 50" x 10" and it just a small ledge where I'll sit and drink my coffee and read the news in the morning.

My question is, can I stain the wood with Mixwax Wood Finish (this stuff: http://www.minwax.com/wood-products/stains/minwax-wood-finish) and then use Howard Butcher Block Conditioner or some other beeswax/oil combo as a sealer? I can't find a clear answer anywhere, because I'm not really concerned about this being a food-safe surface. Everyone's focused on the food-safety aspect.

Other background: I want to stain the wood because I'd like it to be more brown than the red my piece currently is. I don't care much for polyurethane and would like some level of water resistance (and not a shiny finish) so shellac is out.

I've used a citrus wax over Minwax stain as a finish on a kitchen table and been very happy with it so think this should work, but I'm interested in feedback, product recommendations, etc. If you have other ideas of how to stain/finish, I'm all ears.

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Comments (4)

User
10 years ago
No. If you stain it, it needs to be coated with a clear finish like poly or varnish. The finish you are describing is only used on cutting bord type srfaces that will actually be used for chopping and other food prep.
lazy_gardens
10 years ago
If all you want is slight water/coffee spill resistance almost any waxy or oil finish will do. It's not as if it's a prep sink counter.

If you were happy with the citrus wax over stain for the table, use it again.
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I’m just worried I’ll mess up the nice rounded inside corners. The sander is too big to fit in the curves anyways. Yea, I’ll stain the top and put on the Watco. I already finished another piece of butcher block for the other side of the kitchen so I kind of have to keep going. Then, I guess I’ll make sure to have cutting boards for any food prep I do, which I was planning on anyways so the counter didn’t get too scratched. Maybe in another couple of years I‘ll redo it with something better if it turns out a complete disaster.
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I wasn't going to respond to this as it seems you've done your research and probably read my experience already, but thought I would add it again to bump the thread and to say how much I like your counter. I'm not a fan of bar height counters, but that looks lovely. Waterlox is the finish most often recommended on this site. However, it is not available where I live and I've read that it is very smelly. Instead, I tried wax and mineral oil from Boos. I didn't like that I had to keep applying it every couple of months. People said it would eventually build up and I wouldn't have to keep doing it, but that wasn't my experience. Then I tried a product similar to Rubio (can't remember the brand name right now). It was easy to apply, but didn't deepen the colour and also didn't last. We used Rubio on the oak floors of our home and I don't think I'd like it for counters as it is very matte. Finally, I used Watco's Butcher Block and I've been happy with that. It took about 5 coats (but they dry pretty fast) and my counters took on a slightly warm look and have a level of protection that works for us. I used it on our maple island counter about two years ago and it is time to do touch up coat. This summer we had maple counters installed at our lake house and I've also used it on them. I like that it builds to a satin finish and I can add new coats as it starts to wear. It was also relatively cheap at about $20 per can. We had an oak island top built for us about 10 years ago. I used Old Master's wipe on poly for that. I was really happy with it, too. It was also really easy to apply and the finish lasted for years. We only got rid of it when it sat directly under a stream of water for hours when a pipe burst. The insurance co. said it was ruined, but I never saw it. I didn't use it this time as the nature of island changed and I knew kids and DH would likely be harder on it. I wanted something that I could easily recoat and I wasn't sure if the poly would allow that without sanding down. I read about using real tung oil, but every time I read something positive, I also read something negative and the negative experiences were really negative.
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jmmcd3
Original Author
10 years ago
Thanks for the responses! @hollysprings, I'm curious about why you say it must be finished with poly or varnish?

Does anyone have experience working with lyptus? It seems slightly splintery despite being carefully sanded with 100 > 150 > 220 sandpaper. I'm thinking building up a wax finish should eliminate it, but I don't get why it's still like that.
klem1
10 years ago
Odds are your wood is not Lyptus because of the properties you describe. Very few sources of Lyptus are trustwothy and ship whatever is plentiful at the moment.
That isn't important if you are satisfied with the appearance. What is important is the combination of products used to finish it. It is real simple for the novice to choose stains and/or topcoats. First prioritize your preferances for topcoat. In this case,beauty and water resistant with wearability not being nessary. You mentioned MinWax which is my reccomendation for the novice because it is simple to use and yields good enough results. So Minwax Wipe On Poly Satin it is. Now you choose stain,Minwax Wood Finish. Both products are oil based and paint thinner clean up. Miwax offers many products,all except Polyshades are good products when used as directed. Choose another brand if you like but NEVER mix and mingle brand names until you gain enough experience that you aren't asking what to use like you are here. Whatever you use,follow the directions printed on the label to the letter,again until you don't need advice on what to buy. It's important to understand that far better products are on the market but they are difficult to use until basic skills and methods are mastered. Pros luv telling green horns about their secret witches brew without considering the specialized techniques required in applying it. I have heard many swear by their concotions eventhough it flys in the the face of the world's finest experts. It's fun trying to invent better mouse traps after one becomes bored with established ways but it's asking for trouble a novice isn't prepared for.

Howard Butcher Block Conditioner over Minwax Stain?

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lazy_gardens

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Howard Butcher Block Conditioner over Minwax Stain?

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lazy_gardens

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klem1

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