Blog

(BPT) – Key takeaways

• Backup power solutions are essential with today’s tech-dependent lifestyles, extreme weather events and aging power grids.
• Solar generators provide a noise-free, fume-free battery backup option for power outages.
• The HomePower Series from Jackery offers power solutions to fit every home, family and budget. And yes, it’s possible for a solar generator, even a portable power station, to power a house during an outage.

With more people working remotely and the expansion of smart technology in recent years, renters and home owners have changed how they use their spaces. Between needing work-from-home options and the growing popularity of smart household appliances, home upgrades in 2026 reflect the demand for continual power without worry about outages, or the stress being placed on the aging power grid.

Reasons to have home backup power

Among today’s remote-capable U.S. employees, over 27% work fully remote and over half (52%) work hybrid. That means the home office is a permanent fixture for most white collar or information workers. For others, a home office is convenient for performing work-related duties on occasion, or managing household tasks.

When you make upgrades in 2026, you’re more likely to be updating computers or other electronic devices, adding a standing desk, buying high-tech appliances or installing a smart thermostat. All these needs are part of today’s lifestyle, which further increases grid stress during hot summer months.

But power interruptions have also become an expected occurrence. In 2024, U.S. electricity customers experienced an average of 11 hours of power interruptions, nearly twice the annual average of the prior decade. In the first half of last year, nearly half (45%) of U.S. utility customers experienced power outages.

Backup power solutions for every home

To help ensure your home’s system can cope with increased energy needs uninterrupted, you’ve probably considered backup power. The good news is, backup power is more accessible than ever and with advancements in battery technology, a solar generator can power a house during an outage.

Home backup power used to be an unvaried product for just one type of household: storm-country homeowners with a generator and a garage. Not anymore. The Jackery HomePower Series offers customized solutions designed for remote workers in a one-bedroom apartment, families that want a backup power solution for keeping a refrigerator running, and homeowners wanting whole-house protection without a fuss. One series. Every home.

In 2024, U.S. electricity customers experienced an average of 11 hours of power interruptions, nearly twice the annual average of the prior decade.

I’m honestly a little surprised by all the interest in my photo digitization project, but we continue to field questions about how I’ve organized our old family photos. So here are answers to the most often-asked burning questions about exactly how we sorted, organized, and backed up our photos throughout the digitizing process.

I won’t claim to have ALL of the answers (a photo-organizing expert like Miss Freddy might!), because there’s been some trial and error along the way for me. But below are the steps I wish I’d followed from the very beginning. There’s also a “rapid fire FAQ” at the end.

Why Digitize Your Old Photos

To recap, our goals for this project were threefold:

1. Safeguard memories: Create digital backups of photos to protect against loss or damage
2. Free up space: Convert bulky old photo albums into slimmer photobooks (twice as many photos can be stored in literally 1/4 of the space)
3. Pare down photos: Get rid of pics that aren’t worth saving (doubles, blurry, etc)

We’ve definitely achieved all three of these goals, but this post primarily focuses on #1: the process of sorting, organizing, and backing things up. And hopefully Goals #2 and #3 are pretty self-explanatory!

Photo Digitization: A Step-By-Step Process

You might think: what could the steps possibly be? Just scan and save, right? That’s what I thought! But merging and organizing multiple albums, loose prints, and digital photos benefits from a more systematic approach. Here’s an overview:

1. Assess Your Stash
2. Define Your Scope
3. Buy Supplies
4. Create Main Backup Folders
5. Transfer Digital Photos
6. Sort Physical Photos
7. Scan & Save In Batches
8. Back Up To Another Location

Now let’s break these down so this goes from being ONE GIANT PROJECT to a few smaller and doable steps.

1. Assess Your Stash

To begin, take stock of where and in what format(s) your old photos currently exist. It may help to gather them all in one place or simply make a list on paper. Potential formats include:

• Photo albums
• Boxes or piles of loose photos
• Photos on display (framed, pin boards, on the fridge)
• Film negatives or slides
• Digital photos saved on devices (your computer, phones, the cloud)
• Digital photos saved on SD cards, CDs, flash drives, etc
• Digital photos uploaded to sites like Facebook, Snapfish, etc

I started our project simply thinking about our physical albums, but realized we had many digital photos and loose photos that overlapped the same years. Locating them all and listing them before you start makes things a lot easier. And your new photobooks will be even more comprehensive than your old albums!

2. Define Your Scope

Step #1 might be overwhelming, so don’t be shy about limiting the scope of your project. Maybe start with just one album, one year, or one event (wedding, vacation, etc) for now. Starting small also lets you figure out your preferred workflow and organizational system on a smaller scale. You can also break down the project into bite-sized tasks, such as:

• Getting all the photos into one location (Step #1 above) – be sure to check drawers and closets for old boxes, CDs, etc
• Discarding unwanted photos – we flipped through our old albums and tossed extraneous or blurry photos (27 bad photos of fireworks do not need to be scanned!).
• Sending out negatives, slides, and unscannable formats for digitization – try a service like this
• Sorting prints chronologically – there’s more about this in step #6 below
• Scanning prints – and save the organizing for later

You can also limit your scope by excluding some photos entirely. For us, we limited our scope to photos taken before 2009, which is when we started printing annual photobooks.

4. Create Your Main Backup Folders

One thing I wish I’d done differently was to establish main backup folders before scanning anything. Having one central spot for everything will make life easier as you lay out photobooks or create backups.

Setting up main backup folders is also a good time to decide how you want to organize your photos. Most people will sort by date, but you may want special folders for events (weddings, vacations), people (grandparents, newborns), or locations (first homes, time abroad).

I eventually made a main backup folder on my computer, but you could also do this directly in a cloud account like iCloud or Google Drive. Here’s what mine looks like:

Mine is called “Photo Scans” because I wasn’t thinking about existing digital photos when I started. Because of that, my scans (i.e. ’80s and ’90s photos) ended up in different folders than my existing digital photos (i.e. early 2000s photos). By the time I realized my mistake, I’d already started making photobooks and couldn’t combine my folders without unlinking the file locations in my photobook software. Do as I say, not as I do!

A note about filenames

I also chose a consistent filename format for all photos in this project. This helped me quickly identify which files I’d processed and which I hadn’t. To do this, I used the “Rename” function on my MacBook to rename files in bulk. Just Ctrl + click on your Mac (right-click on a PC) to get the menu shown below. Fill in your preferred naming system (I used a Person-Year-Month– format, like John-1981-11) and hit enter.

We didn’t know the exact month for every photo, so we just used our best guess.

5. Transfer Digital Photos

I know this project is primarily about scanning old photos, but hear me out: if any of those prints already exist digitally somewhere, transfer them to your main backup folders first! Think photos from those pre-smartphone early-2000s digital cameras that the kids now call “retro.” We found digital photo files on several CDs, on a backup drive, and even in an old Flickr account.

Those digital files will be better quality than your scans AND they should have the original metadata, which tells your computer the exact date the photo was taken. That makes sorting them into the correct folders faster and more precise.

Trust me, it stings to find these files after you just spent an hour scanning and sorting prints of the very same pictures… which happened to me. Lesson learned: look first, scan later.

5. Sort Physical Photos

Now let’s turn to your photo albums and loose photo prints. Before you fire up the scanner, here are some ways to prep your prints for faster and easier scanning:

Remove prints from albums

If you’re not keeping those old bulky albums, take the photos out and put them into a pile for speedier scanning. If you are planning to keep the album as is, just remove, scan, and immediately put photos back one at a time.

Copy captions

If the album has important dates, names, or locations written beside a photo, I suggest rewriting that info onto the back of the print. I’ll share how to use this later, but for now, this step allows you to discard the album without losing that info.

Pare down

Discard any unwanted or unneeded photos now (duplicates, poor quality, things you don’t care about, etc). You’ll have less to scan and fewer files to sort later. Win-win!

Put prints in order

Arrange your prints to match your main backup folders – such as chronologically. If you’re lucky, your albums are already sorted this way. If you’re like us, you also have a big pile of loose photos, many without dates on the back. *sigh*

It took me quite a while to sort our prints into a loose chronological order, but I still found it much easier to do before scanning. I made piles for each year on the floor (again, matching my main backup folders) and used whatever info I could to make my best guess about where each photo belonged in a timeline. Some had dates or captions on the back. Some I knew from memory (that trip was from 1998!). Some I tried to cross-reference haircuts or outfits to photos with known dates. It wasn’t perfect, but it was good enough for our purposes. Also, you kinda feel like a detective.

Doing all of this sorting and prep upfront left me with ready-to-scan piles that I could blaze through without much thought or effort. This meant I could even sneak in quick scanning sessions when I only had 10 or 15 minutes to spare.

6. Scan & Save In Batches

You can watch the video below to see how easy it is to scan with the Plustek ePhoto Scanner. Just be sure to adjust the ICC Profile in the Preferences menu first (as described in this post) to spare you from manually adjusting each scan for color & brightness. Trust me on this: it’s a very worthwhile detail!

Note: You can also view this video on YouTube.

The ePhoto software allows you to scan up to 60 photos before you must export/save and start a new batch. However, I preferred to export every time I finished a group from the same month or event. Even if a month only had 3 or 4 photos, I would export them as a “batch” because it makes file-naming easier.

To be clear, here’s what that process looks like:

1. Working through your chronological pile of photos, scan all the photos from a particular month, up to 60 (for example, all photos from March 1982).
2. Then, export those by clicking the disk icon in the ePhoto software (circled above).
3. You’ll be prompted to select an export destination. Select the appropriate year (1982) in your main backup folders. NOTE: It will NOT prompt you to provide a file name in this step, which is why I prefer to rename them in bulk after export.
4. Once exported, a window with those freshly saved files should pop up. Highlight those files and use the “Rename” tool (found by Ctrl + clicking on a Mac) to apply a better filename to the batch. Here’s where I used that Person-Year-Month format, like John-1982-03. Sometimes I added an event name too, like John-2000-06-Prom or John-2004-05-Graduation.
5. You’re done, move on to the next batch of photos!

Repeat this process until all of your old photo prints have been digitized and saved into their appropriate folders.

7. Back Up To Another Location

For files as important as these photos, I prefer to have them saved in multiple places. Maybe that’s overkill, but knowing that I have multiple backups made it easier to part with some of the physical copies. So for now, I’ve put my files in these 3 places:

1. On my laptop’s hard drive*
2. On an external hard drive
3. On the cloud, like iCloud, Google Drive, or Dropbox

*Keeping files on my laptop is mostly to make creating photobooks simpler. I find it easier when they’re saved on my computer. Once I print the photobooks, I’ll probably free up the laptop space since I’ll still have them on an external hard drive & on the cloud.

I don’t back up my files after every little scanned batch of photos. I usually wait for a natural stopping point – like when I’m done scanning for the day or have finished a whole year/album. Obviously, the goal here is to safeguard your efforts (and your memories!) in case of a computer crash, device loss, or cloud failure.

A More Visual Backup Option

You may also want to upload your scans to an app like Apple Photos or Google Photos. You know, those places your phone is probably storing your current photos!

These apps make it easier to see and enjoy your old photos (imagine that!), even right from your phone. Plus, you can leverage their search tools (like facial, text, and object recognition) to, for example, search “dog” to find pics of your childhood pet.

However, I’ll offer two words of caution about using Apple or Google Photos for this type of digitization project.

Drawback #1: They aren’t great with dates

Both Apple and Google display photos chronologically using the “date taken” embedded in the file (aka: metadata). This works great for existing digital photos, but not scanned prints. Apple and Google have no way of knowing when it was originally photographed, and they also won’t care what folder or filename you saved it under. Instead, they will sort them by the date you scanned the print. That means all of your careful sorting may go right out the window when you upload to these services.

There is a solution, however. You can adjust the date of your uploads, even selecting multiple photos to fix at once. To do this, I suggest uploading scans in small batches (just like you scanned them) so you can move an entire month or event together. It can be a tedious process, depending on how precise you want the dates to be.

Just keep in mind that editing dates this way does NOT change the file’s metadata. So if you ever export these photos back to your computer (to make a photobook, for example), you’ll likely lose any sorting you did within Apple or Google Photos. Frustrating, I know! They will preserve filenames, though, which is why naming everything with a Year-Month-Event.jpg format can be useful.

Drawback #2: Old and new pics might get mixed

Because of the metadata issue described above, your uploaded scans can easily get mixed with your recent photos. You might find old baby photos right next to that picture of the dog that you took this morning or the funny raccoon videos you downloaded at midnight. So if you’re not diligent about adjusting dates as you upload, you can end up with a tangled, time-warped mess when you’re trying to fix dates or print photobooks later.

For this reason, we kept ours completely separate. Since we already use iCloud for our iPhone photos, we uploaded all of our old photos to Google Photos. We even used two separate Google Photos accounts: uploading my old photos to mine, and Sherry’s to hers. It might seem crazy to put photos in 3 separate places, but it has really helped as we’re assembling our separate childhood photobooks.

What’s Next For Our Photos?

After we scanned and sorted everything, we moved on to two final tasks – both of which we’ve nearly completed:

Making Photobooks

Remember how Goal #2 is to replace our bulky albums with slimmer photobooks? We’ve already printed a bunch of replacement photobooks, allowing us to discard over 8 puffy albums so far!

We started making annual “Family Yearbooks” in 2009, when Sherry was first pregnant. But now we’ve got them going back to 2005 when we started dating, along with a photobook that’s devoted to our wedding and honeymoon, as well as some childhood photobooks for each of us. It has been a long time coming, and seeing them all finished and printed (and freeing up all that space) feels great.

Paring Down Our Prints

We did discard many photos during the sorting and scanning process (mostly duds and duplicates), but we’re hanging on to everything else until we’ve finished printing our photobooks. That way, we can reference info on the backs (remember how we copied captions out of the albums?) and reference our physical piles for the chronological order.

Now that our photobooks are done, we plan to pare down some more. The goal is to end up with just one or two decorative boxes that we can stack on a bookshelf full of our favorite older photos. That way we have our favorite originals handy for display, passing down, or just as “historical artifacts” of sorts. But there’s no need to save 1000+ printed photos from 15 years ago when we now have them arranged in a photobook (which is much easier to look through than endless boxes of random photos from different eras).

Photo Digitization FAQs

If the steps above were a lot to take in (believe me, I understand), here are some rapid-fire responses to some popular questions:

How much storage do I need to save my photos?

The 2,500 photos I’ve scanned using the Plustek take up 3.3 GB of disk space. That is very little by file storage standards. For reference, basic flash drives start at 8GB, Apple gives users 5GB of free storage, and Google offers 15GB free. Obviously, your personal needs will depend on how many photos and what resolution you’re scanning (see below). Existing photo files straight from a digital camera (aka: not your scans) may also be larger.

Are the scanned photos good enough quality to print or project on a screen?

By default, Plustek scans everything at 300 dpi (dots per inch), meaning your scans should reprint clearly at their original size. If you plan to enlarge or project your photos, you can change the Plustek setting to 600 dpi. This will slow down the scanning process and increase file sizes, but it will keep them clearer at larger sizes.

Keep in mind that anytime an image changes format or medium, it can lose quality. And any reprints or enlargements you order may be a print of a scan of a print of a film negative.

How much will it cost to store my photos?

This depends on how much storage you need and what storage you already own or pay for. We incurred no additional storage costs for this project because we already own an external hard drive (~$70) and already pay for 100GB of Google storage ($20/year). But you can also purchase smaller flash drives for under $10 or choose Apple’s 50GB plan, which is $0.99/month.

Other Family Photo Posts

To catch up on this digitization project or other information about how we store family photos, be sure to check out these posts below:

*This post contains affiliate links, so we may earn a small commission when you make a purchase through links on our site at no additional cost to you.

More posts from Young House Love

There’s no single solution for creating better indoor-outdoor flow. Your home may need a new set of doors, or the idea may involve the kitchen, dining area, rear wall, deck, lighting, flooring, or a new addition.

Start by thinking about how you’d like to use the connection. You may want an easier route for outdoor meals, more space for guests, better garden views, or a sheltered area between the house and backyard.

Discuss these points with your renovation professional:

• Interior traffic paths
• Door type and opening width
• Patio, deck, or garden placement
• Exterior steps and floor levels
• Flooring near the exit
• Indoor and outdoor lighting
• Possible structural work
• Local permits or approvals

If you’re in the early planning stage, learning more about choosing a general contractor can help you prepare. Sharing the complete idea early gives the contractor a better understanding of how the outdoor connection relates to the rest of your home.

Running a successful trade business is a massive achievement, but there comes a point when you want to look beyond the immediate week-to-week schedule. If your diary is constantly packed, you are turning down work, or you find yourself working in the business instead of on it, it is time to take the next step.

Scaling an existing trade business requires a deliberate pivot away from small, ad-hoc callouts and toward high-value projects. It means securing larger jobs that offer healthier profit margins, longer operational timelines, and better predictability for your team.

If you are wondering how to effectively grow your trade business without overstretching your cash flow, we have put together the essential strategies below—including how Rated People’s Agent Verified service can unlock access to premium jobs.

How can I effectively grow my existing trade business?

True growth isn’t just about working harder or taking on more small leads; it requires a structured approach to your operations and project selection:

• Pivots toward higher-value jobs: Chasing multiple minor repair jobs a day burns fuel, time, and administrative energy. To scale efficiently, focus on major, multi-discipline installations: such as full house extensions, complete kitchen refurbs, large roofing overhauls, or full bathroom installations. These premium jobs keep your crew in one place, simplify your logistics, and generate significantly higher revenues.
• Build a dependable network of subcontractors: You cannot scale if you are the only one on-site. Transition into a project management or principal contractor role by building a roster of trusted subcontractors (electricians, plasterers, plumbers). This allows you to tender for larger, more complex transformations without immediately taking on the overhead of permanent full-time staff.
• Refine your pricing strategy and cash flow management: Larger jobs mean larger upfront material costs and longer payment terms. To scale safely, implement strict milestone-based payment schedules. Don’t finance a client’s structural project out of your own pocket; ensure your deposits fully cover initial material orders and site setup costs.

What is Rated People’s Agent Verified service?

To win larger, premium jobs, you need a steady stream of serious, high-intent clients. That is exactly why Rated People introduced the Agent Verified service.

When a homeowner posts a large-scale, high-value project on our platform, such as a major extension or a complete property refurbishment, it undergoes a pre-qualification process before it ever reaches you. A dedicated Rated People agent speaks directly with the homeowner to check their architectural plans, verify their structural specifications, clarify their layout changes, and confirm their target budget.

Once the lead has been confirmed as an authentic, high-intent project, it is published on the platform with a clear Agent Verified, blue badge.

How our Agent Verified service help you scale safely

Securing premium work through our AV service gives your trade business a distinct competitive advantage when you are trying to grow:

1. You save valuable time with clear project briefs

When you are looking for large-scale projects, vague online descriptions usually lead to wasted hours spent chasing homeowners for details. With Agent Verified jobs, the heavy lifting is already done. Because our team speaks with the homeowner within 24 hours of posting, the job lead contains accurate structural scopes and verified parameters. You can see the exact scale of the work from day one, allowing you to calculate your pricing accurately and submit realistic quotes without excessive back-and-forth communication.

2. You quote on serious, pre-budgeted premium jobs

Nothing stalls growth faster than spending hours visiting a site and drawing up detailed quotes, only to find the client doesn’t have the funds to back up the project. Our AV service explicitly confirms the homeowner’s target budget and financial readiness during the vetting process. This means when you buy an Agent Verified lead, you are pitching to a customer who is serious about investing in high-quality workmanship, protecting your margins, and preventing wasted admin time.

3. Limited competition means a higher win rate

We limit the number of tradespeople who can buy and quote on any given lead to a maximum of three. For premium Agent Verified projects, this means you aren’t competing against dozens of low-ball quotes. It gives you a clean, professional opportunity to showcase your credentials, build rapport, and win high-value projects that can sustain your business for weeks or months at a time.

Ready to secure your next large-scale project?

Scaling your trade business safely relies on winning the right type of work. By targeting pre-qualified, high-value jobs, you can upgrade your diary with profitable projects while eliminating administrative hassle.

Log into your Lead Tracker today, look out for the Agent Verified badge on your Live Leads list, and win the jobs your business needs to grow. 

When you are running a busy trade business, winning large-scale projects is a massive milestone. Whether it is a multi-storey house extension, a complex structural roof replacement, or a complete top-to-bottom property refurbishment, high-value structural jobs are fantastic for your bottom line. They keep your crew in one place, offer healthier profit margins, and provide long-term predictability for your diary.

However, larger projects come with larger responsibilities. Managing a complex construction site requires a major pivot away from the ad-hoc, quick-fix approach used for smaller jobs. To protect your margins, deliver top-quality work, and maintain your reputation, you need a well thought out approach to execution and efficiency.

If you want to fine-tune your workflow, we have broken down the key steps in effective construction project management—and highlighted how quoting on Rated People’s Agent Verified projects sets you up for an efficient, successful build from day one.

The key steps in effective construction project management

To keep a large structural project moving seamlessly from the initial site setup to the final sign-off, focus on these core operational pillars:

1. Establish a clear, unshakeable project scope

Misaligned expectations are the number one cause of project delays and budget disputes. Before a single tool is lifted, you must map out a detailed scope of work. This includes defining structural milestones, ordering lead-time materials early, and outlining what is, and isn’t, included in the price. A solid, transparent brief protects you from the job growing beyond the original agreement and ensures your client understands the exact parameters of the build.

2. Standardise your scheduling and subcontractor coordination

A large construction project involves a carefully timed sequence of trades. If the bricklayers are delayed, the roofers can’t start, and the internal plastering schedule collapses. Use clear gantt charts or scheduling software to manage your team and your subcontractors. Build a buffer into your timeline for unpredictable factors, like the UK weather or building control inspection delays, so a minor hiccup doesn’t throw your entire project off track.

3. Refine your cash flow and milestone-based invoicing

Large-scale builds mean major material costs and significant labour outlays. Financing a high-value structural renovation out of your own pocket is a massive risk to your cash flow. Implement a strict, milestone-based payment schedule. Ensure your initial deposit fully covers site mobilisation and early material orders, and tie subsequent invoices to verified structural stages (e.g., foundations poured, roof watertight).

How Rated People’s Agent Verified service boosts your efficiency

Even the best project managers can lose valuable time if they start with a vague, poorly planned job lead. Spending your evenings chasing homeowners for missing architectural drawings or visiting properties before a clear budget has been established is incredibly inefficient.

That is exactly where Rated People’s Agent Verified service steps in to streamline your pipeline.

When a homeowner posts a large-scale, high-value project on our platform, such as a complex extension or a premium structural refurbishment, it undergoes a rigorous pre-qualification process before it ever reaches your Live Leads list. A dedicated Rated People agent speaks directly with the homeowner to check their plans, verify their structural specifications, and explicitly confirm their target budget.

Once the lead is confirmed as an authentic, high-intent project, it is published on the platform with a clear Agent Verified, blue badge.

Why AV leads are a project manager’s best asset

Securing high-value jobs through our AV project pipeline gives you a massive head start on your construction project management:

• Clear project briefs from day one: Because our agents do the heavy lifting upfront, AV leads feature accurate structural parameters and clarified parameters. You see the exact scope of the work instantly, allowing you to calculate your material costs and labor schedules accurately without the back-and-forth phone calls.
• No wasted admin time on unbudgeted jobs: Our team pre-qualifies the homeowner’s budget and intent during the vetting call. When you buy an Agent Verified lead, you know you are pitching to a serious customer who understands the financial investment required for high-quality structural work, completely eliminating dead-end site visits.
• Capped competition to protect your margins: We limit the number of tradespeople who can buy and quote on any given lead to a maximum of three. You don’t have to worry about competing against multiple low-ball quotes. It gives you a professional window to showcase your skills, build rapport, and win premium jobs that sustain your crew for months.

Ready to take on your next premium build?

Efficient construction management starts long before you arrive on-site. By choosing pre-qualified, high-value jobs, you can cut out the administrative guesswork and focus entirely on delivering exceptional craftsmanship.

Log into your Lead Tracker today, look out for the Agent Verified badge on your Live Leads list, and win the premium contracts your trade business deserves.

Danish oil has been in the business for a while now. But, the question of whether it is safe or not is still a question for many. Since it is used in furniture and basic items such as bowls and plates, it’s important that you know how food safe this substance is. Wondering if it imposes a risk on your health is common. No one wants to use utensils and furniture that are not food safe. There is no easy answer though:

Danish oils are basically food-safe when they’re fully cured. However, some may contain chemicals that you don’t want to have around your meals. It depends on the manufacturer and the ingredients and additives used for a particular product. When using Danish oil around the kitchen you should make sure you are using one explicitly labeled ‘food-safe’.

Read on to learn more about the ingredients of Danish oil and how you can find a food-safe product.

Which Ingredients Are Used for Danish Oil?

Danish oil is not produced with only one recipe. Manufacturers use different ingredients to make their own brands. What’s common in the market is Danish oil made from linseed oil or Tung oil that has been polymerized. Sometimes, manufacturers mix these two ingredients to create a better mixture.

Tung oil is also called wood oil or drying oil. When it is exposed to air, the oil becomes hard and it creates a transparent coating that looks shiny and wet. Woodworkers use this for wood finishing as it provides protection. If a wooden product is coated with Danish oil multiple times, it can make a product look like plastic. Linseed oil, on the other hand, is known as a flax oil that works like Tung oil. It becomes solid when it polymerizes, which is ideal for wooden objects.

Both ingredients, in their natural form, are organic non-toxic oils. However, the food safety of Danish oil depends on the additives and chemicals that are used in addition to these natural components.

How Do You Tell if Danish Oil is Food-Safe?

In terms of safety, the use of Danish oil raises a debate. Since there are different recipes that can be used, there is no general answer – manufacturers use their own mixture of ingredients that may or may not be considered food-safe.

One way to tell if it’s food safe is if a finish has cured through polymerization. When the product with oil cures totally, it is already considered food safe. The curing time for products with Danish oil may take days and this is an important part of the process so that it won’t react with food substances when used.

The FDA states in this context:

‘Resinous and polymeric coatings may be safely used as the food-contact surface of articles intended for use in producing, manufacturing, packing, processing, preparing, treating, packaging, transporting, or holding food’.

US Food & Drug Administration (FDA), Code of Federal Regulations, Title 21
(link to the document)

Another way to tell the safety of Danish oil is by researching the ingredients used. For instance, linseed oil is proven to be edible. It’s even a good source of Alpha Linoleic Acid too. This fatty acid is one of the essentials a human body needs in order to survive. If the Danish oil used to finish wood has linseed oil in it mixed with non-toxic additives, then you can rest assured that the product is food safe since the materials used are edible.

In any case, you should check the back of the can or the manufacturer’s safety data sheet (SDS; example) for details with respect to food safety and potential health risks.

What Are the Concerns with Danish Oil?

Even if you follow the above tips, you should be careful using Danish Oil around the kitchen. Its main purpose is finishing furniture, such as shelves or cabinets, rather than being used on wood with regular food contact.

What’s potentially wrong with Danish oil is the toxins added by manufacturers to make the mixture, not the oil itself. As you can see, Tung and linseed oil are healthy and safe if used purely. However, manufacturers have cut back the oil and some combine it with toxic ingredients to make Danish oil more efficient. Obviously, you could consider using pure natural Tung oil or linseed oil to coat wooden products. However, the improved mixture of Danish oil improves the application process and resilience which is an advantage.

Read our guide to oil as a wood finish to learn the differences and make up your mind whether those are suitable alternatives for your project.

Which Danish Oil Brands Are Safe to Use?

To tell whether Danish oil is toxic or non-toxic, it depends on the brand and the manufacturer. Be sure to read the Safety Data Sheet (SDS) to review and understand the level of toxins that might be included in the Danish oil you are using.

It’s essential that you know about these things since the ingredients used to make Danish oil is interdependent on food safety. Remember that Danish oil is typically used to coat furniture, rather than the utensils you use when you eat. Nevertheless – if you use it around the kitchen, you should make sure that you buy a food-safe type of Danish oil.

Some of the good brands that are food safe are Watco and Tried & True.

Example of WATCO food-safe Danish Oil
(you can find it e.g. on Amazon).

Watco is manufactured by Rust-Oleum and it’s known to deeply penetrate woods. It’s an oil-based blend that is great for sanded wood, virgin wood, and stripped wood. It also creates a perfect finish for wooden products. The ingredients are non-toxic, which means it is food safe.

Tried & True uses linseed oil as its main mixture for Danish oil. It gives a satin finish that’s ideal for kitchenware, boards, and children’s furniture. It’s also FDA-compliant and is non-toxic when it comes into contact with food substances.

Example of Tried & True food-safe Danish Oil (also available on Amazon).

Conclusion

Danish oil is a proven and efficient way of finishing wood. It is basically deemed to be food-safe once it’s fully cured. You may nevertheless give it a second thought as some manufacturers add chemicals to their mixture that may not be ideal for contact with food.

Before you apply Danish oil in your kitchen, always check the back of the can and the SDS for details about food safety. Also, adhere to products that are explicitly labeled food-safe, or – if in doubt – use a natural oil such as mineral oil, Tung oil or linseed oil.

Read more about oil for finishing wood in our ultimate guide where we also compare the pros and cons of the different types.

When you are thinking about the wall construction of your home, two options will probably come to your mind: drywall and plaster wall. In most new homes, drywall is used while plaster walls are common in older buildings. You might be wondering what exactly the difference is:

Drywall is a material made from gypsum pressed between two sheets of paper. It is easy and quick to install. Plaster, on the other hand, is gypsum- or cement-based material that requires more installation time but offers better soundproofing.

Read on to learn more about both materials, their uses and differences.

What Is Drywall?

In its simplest form, drywall is a pre-rendered sheet of material designed to be screwed down and form the surface of the wall. It’s typically made of gypsum (calcium sulfate dihydrate) and finished on both sides with a heavy-duty backing paper.

If you’ve ever been involved in any kind of discussion regarding the topic of house building or remodeling you’ve definitely heard of drywall. You may have even seen it on your favorite home renovation show.

Drywall is one of the most popular construction materials used in the finishing of walls. It is well regarded for its affordability, ease of use and how quickly it can be installed. Drywall is very durable and will last for many years without maintenance, but is also easy to repair if it does become damaged.

You might also know drywall by some of its other names such as buster board, gypsum board, gypsum panel, plasterboard, custard board, wallboard or sheetrock.

These may all sound very different but they are all essentially the same basic product.

What Is Plaster and How Is It Used for Walls?

Just like drywall, plaster is often used as a key component in the building of new homes or the renovation of existing ones. Plaster is often considered to be a more traditional and artisanal finish for a wall.

Plastering walls is a technique that goes back many thousands of years and over time there has been a huge variety of different ways to create it. As a rule, most plasters are made of some sort of mineral compound combined with a binding agent and mixed with water. When you pick up a modern plaster from a DIY store the most common mineral compound you’ll find is gypsum, the same as they use to make drywall. Gypsum is a very practical material to use for plaster because it doesn’t need a binding agent.

Certain types of plaster are also used as render (exterior applications) or for coving (stucco).

In most houses, you will find that plaster walls are applied to a wooden lath. This slatted wooden structure is secured directly to the frame of the walls and gives the plaster something to bind to.

Plaster generally comes as a dry powder which is mixed with water to form a paste-like consistency. Plastering a wall is a skilled task that requires patience to achieve good results. Typically when plastering a wall the plaster finish will be built up in three or more coats, this allows the plaster to dry in between layers and increases the strength of the finish.

Walls with a plaster finish are very strong. Many old homes still have the original plaster finished walls.

Differences between Drywall and Plaster Walls

While drywall and plaster walls do achieve the same basic goal as each other, they are both fundamentally different.

Uses

Drywall is typically used in more modern homes due to the speed of which it can be installed and the fact that a high-quality finish can be achieved by anyone.

Plaster walls tend to be found more in older houses, or in the homes of the affluent who can afford the hand rendering required.

Hardness and Durability

Plaster walls have a very solid finish, they are almost rock-like when the plaster is fully cured.

In comparison, drywall creates walls that have a cavity behind them and are considerably less solid.

Due to this, it is a lot easier to drill or cut into drywall than it is plaster. It’s an incredibly simple process to hang a picture on a drywall wall, but a little more difficult than plaster.

Because drywall is not as durable as plaster it doesn’t always last as long. There are homes with plaster finishes over a hundred years old that are still going strong. Plastering is a more old fashioned technique though, and as such it’s hard to insulate plaster walls.

Installation

As mentioned before, the installation of drywall is pretty straightforward:

Drywall normally comes in standardized boards, such as 4 by 8-foot panels that need to be cut to fit. It is then fixed with screws to the underlying wooden wall construction.

The challenges are that larger drywall panels tend to be heavy and that the installation produces some dust (masks and goggles are strongly recommended). Refer to this video for more details.

To install plaster, one needs to drive nails into the wood known as lath. Coats of plaster are then applied over it. Off-the-shelf Plaster is typically a powder that needs to be mixed with water to turn into a paste before plastering a wall.

Once the plaster is applied, there are several ways to finish it. One of the common techniques is sanding which we have explained in this article.

Which Material Should You Use, Drywall or Plaster?

At the end of the day if you’re trying to choose between plaster and drywall for the finish of your walls it comes down to what you want out of your home.

For durability, solidity and good soundproofing, plaster is still a good choice. Yet, its installation is challenging and time–consuming.

Drywall is an inexpensive yet less durable alternative that can easily be installed by a skilled DIYer (with some support from family or friends).

Q&As around Plaster Walls and Drywalls

Is Drywall or Plaster Better?

Generally speaking, most people prefer to use drywall nowadays when it comes to building or renovating a home. It’s simpler to work with than plaster, allows room for insulation in the wall behind it and can be installed in your home a lot more quickly.

The plaster does have some advantages over drywall. The cavity space behind drywall can become a breeding ground for mold if moisture gets inside, this does not happen with plaster walls due to their solid construction. Plaster is also much better insulated against sound than drywall, again due to the solid nature of the material. You’ll also find that plaster is a lot more durable than drywall, nobody is punching a hole through a plaster wall.

Is it Cheaper to Install Drywall or Plaster?

This might seem like a simple question, but it doesn’t exactly have the simplest answer. Because drywall comes in big pre-rendered sheets and can be installed so quickly it tends to have a reputation for being cheaper than the painstaking process of hand plastering a wall. In fact, in many markets plaster is becoming synonymous with a luxurious and handcrafted finish.

So which one is cheaper? The answer is, as you expected, that it depends. When it comes to the pure cost of the raw materials drywall is actually more expensive than wet plastering.

Most of the cost of a wet plastered wall is in the labor required to apply the plaster professionally. Drywall comes premade, you just attach it to the wall and you’re basically done. The labor cost associated with installing drywall is significantly less than that with plaster.

At the end of the day, it boils down to whether or not you’re going to be installing the wall yourself and what level of skill you have to do that. If you’ve got the ability to plaster a wall by hand and you don’t mind taking the extra time it is absolutely going to work out cheaper. If you’re planning to pay a contractor to do it then the drywall is going to win out financially speaking.

Should I Replace Plaster Walls with Drywall?

A lot of people who purchase an older home for the first time are surprised to find the walls are finished with a traditional plaster method. Many of them find themselves asking if they should replace the plaster walls with drywall?

In most cases, if the original plaster walls are still in good condition there is absolutely no need to replace them with drywall.

Removing plaster walls is labor-intensive, which means that it’s expensive. It’s also an incredibly messy process, which generates a lot of dust and debris. If you’re replacing plaster walls with drywall you have to be really committed to it.

Does Plaster Go on Drywall?

Drywall usually has some sort of finishing material over the top, typically you’ll find that most people use a compound for this purpose. Whichever finishing material you choose to use will affect the overall appearance of the drywall.

There’s absolutely no reason why you can’t apply a plaster skim over the top of drywall. This will give the drywall the visual appearance of a wet plastered wall.

If you just want wet plaster finished walls then you don’t need to put down drywall first. The plaster is applied directly to the wall.

Why Would You Plaster over Drywall?

You may live in a home that already has drywall installed but like the aesthetic appearance of a plaster wall.

Drywall is very smooth, unlike plaster which has a textured surface when finished.

It’s not uncommon for a homeowner to apply a thin plaster veneer over the top of their drywall walls in order to replicate the finish of an authentically wet plastered wall.

How to Tell the Difference between Plaster and Drywall?

When you look at a well-finished wall, you might find yourself wondering whether it is plaster or drywall.

Broadly speaking, you’d have a difficult time trying to determine whether a wall is drywall or plaster from a simple visual inspection. A nicely finished plaster veneer over a drywall base is almost impossible to tell from traditionally finished plaster just by looking at it.

Luckily, there are some simple tests that you can do in order to tell what kind of finish you have on your walls.

Plaster walls generally feel colder to the touch, this is due to the fact that there is usually no insulation behind a wet plaster finished wall. Because plaster walls are considerably more durable than drywall you can try to push a small tack or drawing pin into the wall, a plaster wall will be very difficult to push the pin into, drywall will not.

A simple way to tell if your wall is finished with drywall is to remove a light switch or power outlet from the wall. If there is an electrical box located behind the switch or outlet then the chances are you’re looking at drywall. Plaster finished walls usually have loose wires, and you will probably also be able to see the wooden lath.

Conclusion

Plaster is the more solid and durable material but also more labor-intensive material when it comes to finishing walls.

Drywall is much easier and faster to install which can be done by DIYers. Thus, its installation is less time-consuming and less expensive.

Plaster is more common in older houses while newer homes tend to have drywall instead. Which one you should use depends on your priorities and budget. We hope that this article has helped you decide which one is right for you.

Meanwhile, make sure that you also take a look at our other home improvement articles.

Sources and References