Clear finish for splashback from used hardwood

I plan to make a splashback for a kitchen bench from used hardwood and I’m trying to choose a clear timber finish for it. The splashback won’t be near a sink, so it won’t get much water on it, but is near a stove, so may get a bit of oil splatter from cooking and occasional bits of food that will need wiping off.

I want a finish that is food safe, that lasts a long time before needing reapplication, that can be reapplied easily and quickly and without mess, that doesn’t encourage mould and that does no or minimal harm to health and the environment during application and wear. I’m looking at an oil or wax, rather than a “varnish”-type. The splashback won’t get direct sunlight on it, but it is in a very light room and will get a lot of indirect sunlight.

I’d appreciate any recommendations, stories of your experience or warnings about what not to do/use.

Chances are, you will be best off to look at "deck oils" as I think they are called. Outdoor wood finishes made for your climate, not mine.
I've seen +47C down to -32C in the shade in the past year, here in the mountains at McBride. I can't believe that I'm too far behind you.
Very odd orange cast to it but Sikkens Cetol is good enough for $20,000,000 log homes.

There is pretty much nothing in a oil or wax that cover all you specifications listed above

How about Kunos Oil, easy to apply and as far as I know food safe.

Regards
Keith

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Originally Posted by einadia

The splashback won’t be near a sink, so it won’t get much water on it, but is near a stove, so may get a bit of oil splatter from cooking and occasional bits of food that will need wiping off.

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Is the stove gas or electric, and how close to the splashback is it?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by einadia

I plan to make a splashback for a kitchen bench from used hardwood and I’m trying to choose a clear timber finish for it. The splashback won’t be near a sink, so it won’t get much water on it, but is near a stove, so may get a bit of oil splatter from cooking and occasional bits of food that will need wiping off.

I want a finish that is food safe, that lasts a long time before needing reapplication, that can be reapplied easily and quickly and without mess, that doesn’t encourage mould and that does no or minimal harm to health and the environment during application and wear. I’m looking at an oil or wax, rather than a “varnish”-type. The splashback won’t get direct sunlight on it, but it is in a very light room and will get a lot of indirect sunlight.

I’d appreciate any recommendations, stories of your experience or warnings about what not to do/use.

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why food safe? It's a splash back, not a chopping board or serving platter. Presumably any food that lands on it will be going into the bin.

my suggestion, depending on how close the splash back is to the heat source, is three layers of clear epoxy, sanded back till smooth then two layers of water based clear polyurethane.

I've had a couple of similar situations in my remodeling work. These have been wooden surfaces that need to be water safe, good looking and easily refinishable. I did some oak bead board in a restroom and used a mixture of Thompsons Water Seal (oil based silicone typically used outdoors on wood and concrete) 50% with 10% melted hard beeswax and the balance BLO. Three coats of material warmed enough to fully dissolve the wax and it's holding great two years on.

I used wattyl instant estapol on my sink hardwood (Tas oak) benchtops. 4 coats and it is still going strong after 10 years.

cava, the stove is gas. The splashback will adjoin the stove’s splashback, and the horizontal distance from the gas ring is 205mm (from back to front) and 105mm (left to right). I didn’t measure the diagonal.

ian, food safe because it will be wiped with the same cloth that’s used for washing dishes and wiping the meals table, benches and chopping boards. Also, when products deteriorate, tiny particles of them fall onto anything nearby.

The food that lands on it is likely to be thin spills from mixing food or tiny grates of carrot, etc, which will be too small/ thin to put anywhere, but will be able to be wiped off. I don’t put bigger food scraps in the bin, as this would waste a valuable resource, take up fast dwindling tip space and make the bin smelly.

I’ve previously used polyurethane (Norglass) and although I’ll have to keep reapplying it where I’ve already used it, I don’t want to start with it on anything else. You have to put on about 4 to 6 coats, it looks ugly (like plastic-coated wood – which is what it is), and I hate the smell of the turps needed to wash brushes in, and despite the many hours I’ve spent applying Norglass, I still haven’t got the skills to make a nice finish. Although I wear a respirator (which is uncomfortable and inconvenient) for the whole procedure, there’s still the smell of turps in rags, etc lingering, and I already have respiratory problems. Then if you don’t reapply it in time, and it starts flaking off, you have to spend hours making heaps of mess, sanding the whole thing down and producing flakes/particles of plastic to dispose of.

I’m also increasingly wondering what the effect on lifeforms is when plastic breaks down and gets into soil and water tables. I used to put sweepings of flaked/powdered plastics on the compost heap, assuming worms and bacteria and fungi would eventually break them down and they would just become soil, but I’ve heard a few things recently to make me question this. Any evidence-based info on the effect of tiny particles of plastics on micro-organisms would be welcome. Until I find out that these particles don’t harm micro-organisms, I’m trying to decrease my use of plastic.

Originally I thought of using Timber Treat lanoline, on the assumption that the solvent used to carry it into the timber would evaporate without trace (Don’t know if this assumption is correct), but I can’t buy it locally, and I find the manufacturer hard to contact. Then I thought of Livos Kunos oil, but that is based on Linseed oil, and I’ve read that Linseed oil is food for mould. Then I thought of using Tung oil, but I would probably have to mix it with a solvent. Does anyone know if Linseed oil really is a risk factor for mould, and what evidence there is for this?

Thanks for the other suggestions. Rob Streeper, What is BLO?

Boiled linseed oil. It is generally thought that cured finishes are food safe, including things that have accelerants like BLO. Truth be told your kitchen plasticware and food packaging are probably similar hazards. Teflon coated pans are probably more hazardous.

OK, I get it.

For your splash back, any finish will be food safe once it has fully cured.

However, almost any finish will use a solvent that you may find objectionable or that exacerbates your respiratory problems.

Have you considered using timber grained laminex or similar?
and no, I'm not being sarcastic. After the solvent in the contact cement evaporates, a laminex splash back should be volatile free, durable, sufficiently heat resistant for the location and still look more than acceptable.

Not sure re food safe but a call to Flood Co should answer that.

Be pushing 3 years now, as an experiment I used marine Penetrol on a wooden slatted bbq table, it’s located in a covered open area and the timber is of the dark Asian variety, gets light but not direct sunlight every day and the odd splashes of rain, few beer spills, few rum and Pepsi spills and various sauce and mustard spills, all simply wiped off with a damp (sometimes Spray and Wipe) cloth. Still like it was the day it was put on.

Have tried a number of “experiments”over the years but this one has been great, figured if it was good enough to be used in a marine environment it should work for me.

Marine Penetrol is available from yacht/boat chandlers, never seen it in one of the box stores.

No relationship to Flood Co other than a user of their products.

Maybe thin stainless steel would be better for you. Wont flake, smell like turps or hurt the worms in your compost heap.

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Originally Posted by einadia

cava, the stove is gas. The splashback will adjoin the stove’s splashback, and the horizontal distance from the gas ring is 205mm (from back to front) and 105mm (left to right). I didn’t measure the diagonal.

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I don't have ready access to AS/NZS5601 at the moment, but if I were you I would check the clearances and how it is measured.

Not wanting to rain on your parade, however for insurance purposes, the last thing you want is any misunderstanding regarding clearances to combustible surfaces.