I was told by the installer that I need to oil it every year to help keep and preserve the moisture of the wood. After-all, I upgraded to maple wood and paid the "extra" money for it.

Do I really need to? Yes, I've done it here and there. Maybe 2X in the last 6 years and see no difference. And my prior 10+ year old cabinets (don't know what kind of wood) look exactly the same from day one with no application of any oil. Wet rag was all I ever used.

I'm also asking this question because the cabinets look sort of coated. Like it has an urethane coating. It looks like it beads water. If it has some kind of coating, they nothing (no oil) would be able to penetrate it, correct?

What do you do?

 

I do mine {red oak - whole house} now & then with dark "Scotts" LG.
Makes mine look rich and prevents cracking. Covers scratches.
At least use water to keep clean and moist.
Try some penetrate oil like Scotts in small non seen area
and see if it soaks up and looks better ...
Many do squat on cabinets as well as auto leather but it cracks, gets dirty, and fades just like auto seats.
Some are coated so they wont soak up.
Auto leather - esp TL leather - is just cheap coated split grain
and many cabinets are coated over cheap wood.
Really depends on what your wood is and house enviroment & %RH.

 

Old English oil is what I used.

 

not only that it seems to be EXTRA thin and does not age well at all....

A good wood oil will definately help the cabinets maintain their look even if they are coated as the oil is a thin film that protects the coating from crap like cooking residue...