re: First butcher block

Or your could save a bundle and buy bottles of mineral oil. No matter how much they spin it, it’s mineral oil in a fancy bottle.

I slather it on and as long as it soaks in, I keep adding it. There is NO reason to slather it on and wipe it off. That’s just wasting product. The idea is to get it into the wood (penetration).

I’ve taken old butcher blocks that separated and cracked and poured the oil on, then did other things throughout the day, to allow it time to soak in throughout. As I walked by, if any area was dry, I added more. After getting an entire bottle in, I grabbed another. At the end of the day, I slathered one last application on and ignored the block for a few weeks. When I came back, the oil had swollen the fibers, just as water does on a Seattle deck in the winter, and ALL the cracks, splits and separations had disappeared.

P.S. The wax would make future applications of [needed] oil difficult to add. That said, I have a bottle of the wax version (you can make your own with mineral oil, turpentine or lemonine and a little beeswax) and I think it works great on those old gray wood handles we have on kitchen knives. Mine look better than new. Of course, I’m cutting with them and not on them.