Sealing natural stone counter tops - marble

We just installed some some napoleon grey marble slabs in our kitchen. I am thinking about just using some kind of oil to seal them. Do you guys have any experience with this?

Are you trying to stay natural? A lot of the commercial tile/stone sealing preparations are silicone based, and they do that because it lasts longer and doesn't break down. Natural things like linseed oil, being plant based products will break down over time, but then that's just part of Nature's recycling.

If you want to stay natural, just go with linseed oil. Maybe add a natural wax like carnauba to it if you want it to have some more shine.

Yes I am trying to stay natural. Are there any issues with plant based oils going rancid or anything?

Of all plant based oils, linseed and tung are the least likely to go rancid. And marble has a lot less nooks and crannies and pore structure for the sealing oil to hold onto, than say wood, so after you have buffed it, you don't have much material that can volatilize and smell bad.

Give it a try. The worst that can happen is that it gets a funny smell in a few months, which means you need to scrub it down with some lye soap and try a different sealant.

I will do some googling, but are both of those safe for food prep?

Peter Hartman wrote:I will do some googling, but are both of those safe for food prep?

Both are considered non-toxic and safe for food prep. The only consideration would be if someone in the house is allergic to them. Tung oil comes from a nut, and some people are allergic to all tree nuts.