A better way to finish your worktop?

For many years we have used, supplied and recommend Liberon Finishing Oil for our worktops. As a blend of oils, it has offered the best protection for the surface. We were excited when Liberon launched a new product at the start of February. Worktop Finish and Seal looked promising a product, having many advantages over the current system, the main being that it's very quick to dry.

We were sent a tin to evaluate. We prepared samples of all our timbers and sanded them to our usual 240g silky smooth finish. Opening the tin revealed a milky white liquid with a very mild aroma, somewhat similar to PVA glue. Supplied with it was a small spatula with a sponge applicator approximately 4cm square. My heart began to sink, you can't really be expected to finish a 3500 x 900mm worktop with something that size, it would take forever. Our samples were somewhat smaller than this, so we opted to coat one side using the spatula and the other with paint brush.

The product is very quick to dry, so much so, that on a long worktop, the end you started at would be dry by the time you got to the other end. As a water based product, using it on wood is bound to lift the grain of the timber, so it would necessitate sanding the worktop before applying further coats. The somewhat negates the time advantage it has over an oil finish. But we persevered.

With two coats applied, our conclusions are:

Positive Side:

Low odour

Quick to dry

Hard finish

Negative Side:

Will require sanding between coats

Not easily applied. The applicator is too small, tried using larger paint brush shows, but dried finish shows brush marks.

Dull, matt finish, the milky white appearance doesn't disappear once it dries. Oil enriches the woods colour and makes it come alive, this does nothing to enhance the colour of sanded wood. It gives the wood a "fake" plastic like appearance.

We can't comment on the long term durability of the product, it may well be excellent, but the problems with the application and appearance of the finish is enough for us not to recommend it. A disappointing outcome, we had high hopes for this product, maybe with further work they can overcome the problems, but for now we only recommend and supply Liberon Finish Oil.