Maple Worktops

Maple was always the original choice for butchers.  Incredibly hardwearing, easy to maintain and a good contrasting colour to prepare meat on, little has changed.  Except perhaps that maple is now seen for the beautifully subtle timber it is.  With grain sometimes looking like crushed silk, we use it to great effect in kitchens where light can be an issue, or we want to balance out the colours of the units and walls.  Harder even than White Oak, Glacial Maple is very pale, and once oiled reflects light wonderfully. 

As with all timbers, there are so many different sub-species with very different properties, for example sugar maple from the west coast of the USA – it looks similar but is much softer and quite unsuitable for a kitchen worktop – that one has be very careful when choosing a supplier.  Our suppliers only ever use Glacial Maple, and the quality of the maple worktops we supply is simply the best. 

Expect to give your tools a hard time with this stuff!  Sometimes it’s like cutting stone it is so hard.  Maple will turn a soft yellow with UV, so if you want to keep it white and pale make sure you ask for a UV resistant oil.  Maple is fine in all areas of the kitchen, including sink areas, provided it is properly oiled.  Maple does benefit from a rub down every four or five years to really make the best of the beautiful grain.

Also, take a look at our Accessories page for worktop accessories such as Wooden Upstands and Worktop Oil.