For the best finish and most protection coats of oil should be applied to the wood until the wood is saturated.
As a very general rule for finishing instruments, furniture and finer items:
- Apply the oil with a brush or soft cloth, leaving 24 hours between coats.
- Apply a coat of oil daily until the wood will absorb no more.
- Leave the oil to dry for 7 days.
- Using 1500 grit wet/dry paper rub in one last coat of oil to the surface to give it a fine, smooth finish.
- Once this has dried for a day a wax, such as blended beeswax, can be applied to offer the final layer of protection and lustre to the surface.
Different oils differ in their viscosity, thickness, and in how hard and resilient they are when dried.
Thinner oils will penetrate deeper in to the pores of the wood but will require a lot more oil to saturate and finish the wood. Thicker oils will build a fuller finish more quickly, particularly on open pored woods such as Mahogany and Sapele.
Examples of thin oils are Danish oil and Tru Oil. Thick oils include Teak Oil, which is used as part of the blend in our high quality finishing oil.