Can Danish Oil Be Used On Cabinets

I wanted to refinish my cabinets and wanted to try on Danish oil as I heard good things about it. But I wasn’t sure if I could even use it. I did some research and here is that I found out.

Danish oil can be used on cabinets. Use a cloth or old t shirt to rub the danish oil on the cabinets. Wait 15 minutes and rub it off. Let it dry and cure for 12 hours before applying another coat.

Danish oil is an oil based finish that can be used in a lot of different projects like refinishing a cabinet. One reason why it’s a good finish for cabinets is because it’s easy to apply. A kitchen has a lot of cabinets so finding a finish that is easy to apply cane go a long way.

How to apply danish oil to cabinets

When you apply danish oil to cabinets you are going to want a few things:

Danish oil

There are a lot of different brands selling danish. If you want the pure stuff, I always go with this danish oil (amazon link). It looks nice and application is simple. Danish oil can also come in different colors. For example, Watco sells Danish oil in a bunch of different stains. If you don’t want to add color to your wood, I would jus go with the natural finish.

Application tool (i.e rag, brush)

When applying danish oil to cabinets you want to use some type of rag to apply the finish. There are a lot options out there but I really like these staining sponge (amazon link). They are affordable and do a nice job. You can also an old t shirt or a clean rag. You can also use a brush but I like rags or a t shirt better.

Gloves

Gloves are optional but recommended. I usually only wear gloves if I remember to but it’s not necessary at all.

Now let’s talk about how to actually apply the danish oil to cabinets. It’s ok to leave stuff inside the cabinets but if you need something I recommend taking them out. Danish oil can dry to danish within a few hours so if you can wait that long, you should be fine.

1. Start by applying some danish oil to your application tool of choice. You want to make sure your brush is wet.

2. Rub down the cabinets one at a time. You want to finish one cabinet, make sure it’s dry before moving on to the next cabinet. I find that doing it this way will help to remember which cabinet you are working on and how much oil you have applied.

3. Depending on how big your cabinets are, you may have to wet your brush a few times to get all of it. So after applying your first coat, look for some dry spots and continue applying. I do this for 15 minutes so you have to patient.

3. After letting it soak in for 15 minutes, you can start to rub the danish oil off the cabinets. Take a dry rag and start wiping off the oil. You won’t get all of it off because the oil takes some time to dry and cure. But it shouldn’t look wet anymore.

After that you are done. Wait a few hours before the cabinets are dry to touch. When the cabinets are dry to touch you can begin using them as usual. But they are not completely dry yet. Danish oil takes a while to dry and cure. In my experience they can take up to multiple days to dry and cure.

Note

Danish oil does have a mild to strong smell. You should plan to avoid the kitchen for a few hours until all of the smell is gone. You also want to have plenty of ventilation in your kitchen. Open up the windows or get some vans. There should be flowing in and out.

Why Use Danish Oil For Cabinets

If your cabinets are looking old and showing scratch marks and discoloring, danish oil can be a great way to restore some life into the look and color of the cabinets.

They not only make your cabinets new but they can also protect and seal them. That’s because danish oil usually contains some type of varnish in them. It will vary by brand but danish oil consists of 1/3 oil, 1/3 mineral spirits and 1/3 varnish. It will protect your cabinets!

Some danish oil like Watco danish oil also offer some stain to the wood. If you want to add color to your cabinets then danish oil can be the way to go.

The reason why I like danish oil for cabinets is just how easy it is to apply on. You just need a rag and you can start wiping down your cabinets. And since a kitchen usually has a lot of a cabinets the ability to wipe on a finish as opposed to using a brush is very nice.