My test of homemade Danish oil went sideways real quick

Tried mixing my own Danish oil with boiled linseed oil and mineral spirits at a 50/50 ratio last weekend, figured I'd save $15 a can. Woke up the next morning to find the finish on my oak table had turned this weird milky white and felt tacky even after 12 hours. Anyone else ever botch a homemade mix this bad or was it just my bad luck with humidity?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_sarah22d ago

Oh man, I've been there! I tried the exact same thing with a 50/50 mix on a walnut coffee table last year and it turned into this goopy, cloudy mess that never really dried right. I left it for like three days and it was still tacky to the touch, had to strip the whole thing down with mineral spirits and start over. The humidity bit is probably a big part of it, I live in a pretty damp area and that homemade stuff just doesn't behave the same as the store bought blend. I read somewhere that the commercial stuff has driers and stuff mixed in to help it cure, so our simple mixes just sit there and soak up moisture from the air instead. Feels like false economy when you end up wasting twice the time and materials fixing it, honestly. Just stick with the canned stuff if you want a reliable finish, at least that's what I learned from my mistake. Saves a lot of headaches.

ray_carr22d ago

The_sarah is right that the commercial stuff has those extra chemicals to help it set, and it's a lesson that applies to a lot of DIY projects honestly. We always think we can save a few bucks by mixing something ourselves, but it usually ends up costing more in time and materials (and frustration) than just buying the proper product from the start. It's the same reason I stopped trying to make my own cleaning solutions at home, the store brands just work better and you don't waste your weekend fixing your mistakes.