Oak Soap Dishes

[Dhenry]

Happy New Year all,

Just before Christmas I made a number of soap dishes out of oak which I finished with Danish oil and then spray on waterproof polyurethane yacht varnish. Unfortunately, the first soap dish that we have started using is discolouring really badly with brown liquid sometimes running from it when wet. Does anyone know if this is an issue with the finish that I have used or have I simply used the worm type of wood for this project? If it’s the wrong finish, does anyone have any better suggestions - similarly, if it’s the wood, what would be a better option?

Thanks

Dave

 

[Phil Pascoe]

How many wooden soap dishes have you ever seen? Might give you clue.
Draining boards used to be teak but that's a much larger section, besides which it'd cost you an arm and a leg.

 

[Keith 66]

You have put a polyurethane varnish over the top of an oil finish. Bad idea as the poly wont stick & stops the oil drying.
You will have to strip the poly off let it dry properly & do one or the other not both.

 

[mccpe]

This is tannins from the wood and you can’t really do anything about it. If woods like oak or chestnut get wet, tannin staining will occur, and I can’t think that any finish would be waterproof enough to prevent it.

If you make wooden items that get wet, then you need wood that is naturally oily - something like teak, and other tropical hardwoods. There is no need to put a finish on, although a little oil or wax might be good for looks.

Side note: you can remove tannin stains with oxalic acid. I’ve done this in the past, and it is nothing short of magical. Try searching YouTube for videos. Oxalic acid is readily available online and comes as a powder. I mixed as much as would dissolve into warm water and then just brushed it onto floorboards in a bathroom that were stained. Within a few minutes, all stains had gone. Rinsed with water, left to dry and refinished. Oxalic acid is safe to use with basic precautions like gloves, and don’t drink it.

 

[Doug B]

If you have to use oak I’d recommend finishing them in Treetex hard wax oil I did our downstairs cloak room in oak including a support surface for a sit on basin & it still looks good years on.
That said I agree with mccpe re tannins & using a different species of timber but I’d still finish them with hard wax oil.

 

[alexalexander]

I made a soap dish from acacia last year and tried several finishes (bare, oiled and enamel paint) in turn stripping back between each, but none worked (the paint lasted the longest at 1 week) - the soap always ended up brown!

 

[Sean Hellman]

Wood and water, I never mix the two unless they are cooking and eating treen. I would take up ceramics if soap dishes are your thing.

 

[Dhenry]

Thanks all for the comments. I’m might try the oxalis acid and then the hard wax oil more out of curiosity as I’ve made a few of these already. I might also make a few others out of the various offcuts that I can find in the workshop (likely maple, walnut, sycamore, birch, alder, lime) just to see if any of them do any better. I’ll let you know how I get on!

David

 

[Woody2Shoes]

Thanks all for the comments. I’m might try the oxalis acid and then the hard wax oil more out of curiosity as I’ve made a few of these already. I might also make a few others out of the various offcuts that I can find in the workshop (likely maple, walnut, sycamore, birch, alder, lime) just to see if any of them do any better. I’ll let you know how I get on!

David

Maybe re-purpose them as ashtrays?

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Wood and water, I never mix the two unless they are cooking and eating treen. I would take up ceramics if soap dishes are your thing.

or boats?

 

[marcros]

Barrels...

 

[gregmcateer]

IIRC we had a beech one a few years ago. No obvious finish on it and it did get some black marks, but if you've the patience, a scrub with the nail brush would probably minimise it.
Failing that, maybe a dark, oily timber like lignum vitae? Old bowling ball re purpose?

 

[Dhenry]

Thanks Greg, I’ll try in beech first if I remake one.

David