Our store table has gone to the Footprints Exhibition in the Counihan Gallery in Brunswick for a month so we’ve brought in an experiment… a prototype all-ply table with a linoleum top.
Table finishes are tricky – we want timber but timber moves, marks, and stains. We use ply so the movement is minimal, but for finishes some of the options are:
- to seal it with polyurethane or acrylic which alters its feel and colour… might as well have a plastic top.
- oils, soap, and waxes – much nicer to put on and their history is the proof of the balance of effectiveness over harming the applicator and the world.
- no seal and live with the marks and stains as a reminder of meals shared
- don’t use the table… who grew up with a table that was not to be touched?
- an alternative surface – linoleum, the old fashioned stuff made from pine resin, wood dust and linseed oil
We’ll see how the linoleum performs, its story is a good one and we like that – a bit old fashioned too, its been around for a while and this means the health effects have been relieved by now – harm to the installers and people who live with it (not off-gassing anything nasty). Linoleum is made from renewable resources too.
Come in and check it out – we’ll see how it performs over time – in the store and at home.