FOODSAFE PLUS on BENCH TOP

Email received from Nigel 15th April 2023

Good day, we currently use food safe plus to maintain a large mahogany live edge cutting board. We are in the process of making a new live edge benchtop with gas cooker and was wondering if you may any products that I could use as a base to seal the new bench top and then maintain with the food safe plus oil?

Thanks

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My response 15th April 2023

Hello Nigel

Please don’t use Foodsafe Plus on bench top. For what you have, you need to seal the top with a good durable surface coating. Preferably not polyurethane as it will go sticky and mark-up, etc down the track.

We have Hard Shellac which won’t darken the timber any more than wetting it down with water and it is as tough as a melamine bench top. It also has a high resistance against marking from Alcohol, water and heat, etc.

It doesn’t need anything over the top of it other than maybe a clean up with our Polish Reviver down the track if hot pans have been left on the finish and you get a white mark from it.

Most oils, waxes and some other surface coatings will not stand up to the cleaning and hard use a bench top will get over time.

Your other option is to finish it with a 2 part precat. lacquer. Preferably done by a professional finisher and I would also recommend using a professional finisher for the Hard Shellac finish, if you are unfamiliar with finishing.

Food Safe over a surface coating won’t dry, so yuck. Most drying oils over surface finish will tend to go sticky/rubbery, wax over a surface coating may enhance the finish with a bit of extra shine but will mark up easily with alcohol, water, heat, cleaning, etc and will require ongoing applications and maintenance.

Hope this has been of some help and hasn’t made your head explode.

Kind regards

Neil Ellis