# Ikea oil



## LeChuck (Jan 6, 2010)

Hi everyone.

I'm not sure this is the right forum for this…

I was curious to know if anyone has tried the oil that Ikea is selling, called Behandla (for their kitchen tops).

The reason I'm asking is that now back in France, I've discovered that Danish Oil (along with many other things, like good plywood) is a specialty item here, very special….It's hard to find, basically a couple online stores, and not cheap. So you just can't go to your local Home-Depot equivalent and pick up a bottle of Watco. And I'm not even sure what's in it (there are quite a few products you can find at the store that purely lie on what they are and contain, for example a wood floor "oil" that turns out to be just a stain, based on the fact that there are very few DIYers to know better).

Ikea has that oil which they write is a mix of Linseed oil, wood oil (?!, perhaps tung?), and lead free siccative agent, it's pretty cheap compared to other solutions, and there's a store about 40 minutes from my place.

So, I was curious to know if anyone has tried it and if anyone knows if it's similar to what we usually call Danish Oil, or if it's more like a varnish-less version, maybe equivalent to polymerized Tung oil. All this for furniture use, workbench etc…

Thanks!

David


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## davidpettinger (Aug 21, 2009)

I would be very afraid to use this product around food stuffs or a cutting board, or a counter top. The product contains "methyl- cellulose" , which has a nasty side effect of causing diarrhea. For wooden counter tops in the kitchen, I would just use good old mineral oil. That would include cutting boards too.
I would also not use this around small children where they could chew on the wood either.
If you are looking for pure tung oil, try these guys. Not too expensive.
http://www.realmilkpaint.com/oil.html


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## LeChuck (Jan 6, 2010)

No use on kitchen tops and food related items, or toys. I'm just looking to see if it's similar to Danish oil for use where Danish oil is generally used.


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## davidpettinger (Aug 21, 2009)

Ok, here is a little tidbit I found on line regarding Behandla. It appears to have the same results but less hassle.

"I later discovered IKEA's Behandla oil, a mixture of tung oil and linseed oil. It's both easier to use and much cheaper than the polymerized tung oil. I think we paid $130 for a gallon of tung oil (that may include shipping), while Behandla is $5 for 750 ml. Unlike the polymerized tung oil, it only needs to dry 2-4 hours between coats (12-24 to cure), it washes off easily before it's cured, and it takes months to gel in the can even without special precautions."

Posted: Sun - June 5, 2005 at 02:03 AM Kitchen Counters


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## LeChuck (Jan 6, 2010)

So I guess mixing some varnish into it would turn it into danish oil…or this could be used with Shellac on top.


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## LeChuck (Jan 6, 2010)

Well, I went to buy a can of it, if anyone is interested, and the little leaflet on it gives just a tad bit more info. Composition is indeed Tung oil, linseed oil, methylcellulose (said to be used to treat constipation, non toxic, non allergenic), lead-free drying agent (dryers), plant-based emulsifier, water. It also says it has been tested and "approved for use in contact with foodstuffs" (although that's not my purpose).

I haven't been able to try it yet, but for what it contains, it's an excellent deal for me (this stuff is just not easily available here) at under 6 euros for a can. We'll see how much it covers.

They also have (under the same "Behandla" name) some stains for their raw pine…...furniture. One of them is some kind of "antique" stain. I had tried that on some lowly pine shelves and it gave it a nice light brown coloring (rather than the usual yellow). Will have to see how to combine that stain, the oil, and some top coat on pine, which I'm going to have to get used to here…


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