Applying Danish Oil

Modern Danish Oil is a mixture of varnish and either linseed or tongue oil. It provides very good protection to woodworking project without obscuring the color and grain of the wood. It’s not a film finish - it dries and hardens in the wood, not on the wood so your work piece will not have a ‘plastic’ look.

Best of all, Danish Oil is very easy to apply. It’s so easy, in fact, that it is the finish I most often recommend to new woodworkers. Here is how I apply Danish Oil to my woodworking projects.

Danish Oil

Micro-fiber tack cloth

Lint-free cloth or rag

Foam Brush

Disposable gloves

Begin by preparing the wood surface for the finish. This means sanding (or hand planning) the finish as smooth as you want. For most indoor furniture, I will move my way up through the sanding grits on a hand-held random orbit sander, beginning at 120, then going to 150 or 180 and finally finishing at 220. You can only apply this finish to raw wood.

Before applying finish, it is important to remove as much of the dust as possible from the work piece. I staring by vacuuming the piece with shop-vac. Then, I dust the entire piece a micro-fiber tack cloth to remove any remaining dust.

Try to apply the finish in a relative dust free environment i.e. not in your shop right after you have finished sanding. This finish should also be applied at room temperature and in a well ventilated area -it will smell.

I find it easiest to apply this finish by first transferring some into an old yoghurt container to work out of. Liberally apply the finish over the whole work piece using a brush or rag. You can put on a lot, flooding the surface.

After 30 minutes, come back to the piece and reapply finish, particularly to areas where all the finish has been soaked in. For a typical piece of furniture I will repeat this process to build up 2 or 3 coats. Additional coats will deepen the shine and increase protection.

Once I am satisfied with the number of coats, I will wait 15 minutes, then wipe the surface of the piece completely dry making sure there are no drips or pools of finish. I will touch the finish with my fingertips - it should feel oily but dry and smooth.

Wait a day, and the piece is ready for use. It's that easy!

You must now safely dispose of the oily rag. Improperly disposed oily rags can spontaneously combust. It’s very important that they not be scrunched up in a ball and left somewhere like the garbage. Hang them outside to dry in a safe area or spread them out flat. They should not be in a pile. Once they cure, the cloth will be hard and brittle and you can throw them out.