Keeping Your Wood Products Looking Like New

If you’re anything like me, you love how beautiful your wood cutting board looks when it’s brand new. You bring it home from the store and proudly display it in your kitchen for all to see. Of course, you use it because you love it and next thing you know, the surface is dull, dry looking and just not at all what you fell in love with. Now you’re almost ashamed to have people see that board that you just couldn’t walk past in the store. The same goes for all those wooden spoons in your drawers, serving trays and any other wood products you have in your kitchen that you use and love.

Here's the thing, it’s not hard to keep them looking like new, it just takes a couple of minutes every couple of months and as a bonus, they will resist warping and cracking too!

Some cleaning products are just not good for your wooden kitchen items. These include bleach, rubbing alcohol and some household cleaners. Luckily there are products that will help you take care of your wood products and keep them looking amazing for years to come.

The first item in our arsenal is mild dish soap. This is a staple in pretty much every kitchen anyway so use it every time you use your board. You will want a soft cloth or sponge, no real abrasive scrubbing sponges should be used, and some warm water to thoroughly clean your wood items as quickly as possible after using them. If you have stuck on bits of food, a metal scraper can be used to remove them from your board before you wash it. Never, under any circumstances, should you ever soak a wood board or spoon or other kitchen tool in water. Wood is a porous surface that will absorb the water and this can cause cracking and warping very quickly.

Next step is to dry the newly cleaned item using a soft cloth; microfiber, cotton, it really doesn’t matter, you just want to get that water off the surface. Once dry, in the case of a cutting board, stand up vertically (lean it against something if you don’t have a stand for it) and let it air dry for a few hours to ensure any water that was absorbed into the wood has been released.

Once it is thoroughly dry, you’ll want to condition it with a food-safe mineral oil. Simply apply a generous amount of oil over the surface of your wood item using a paper towel or soft cloth. Let the oil absorb into the wood for a couple of hours and then wipe off any excess oil on the surface. The oil will help keep odours from being absorbed into the wood in addition to protecting the wood and maintaining a hygienic, food-safe
surface.

If you want to take it one step further, and we absolutely recommend you do, applying a board butter or conditioner to all your wood kitchen implements will help seal in moisture, fight against food stains and maintain the beautiful finish that these items had when they were new. Simply apply a liberal amount of the board butter to your wood surface with a soft cloth and buff gently.

Yes, that’s really all there is to it!

Other issues that may need to be addressed

Even with proper care and maintenance, sometimes life happens and you may need to deal with a problem you didn’t anticipate. Here are some common issues that can arise and solutions to them.

Odours
“Smell the spoon” was actually a punishment in my husband’s childhood home. No, I’m not joking. They used wooden spoons and didn’t follow the care instructions above when cleaning and maintaining them and as a result, their wooden spoons smelled of old onions and who knows what else. Definitely not what you want on your spoons, boards or any other wood surface of your house! Luckily this is easy to fix. We recommend not using harsh or chemical deodorizing products on wood, you can mix lemon juice and salt or baking soda and rub that into the smelly surface, leave it for 20-30 minutes and then follow the cleaning routine outlined above and that should resolve the issue.

Stains
Sometimes, no matter how faithfully we have maintained our wood items, food stains manage to penetrate the wood and will not wash off. Don’t panic. All is not lost! Again, lemon and salt or baking soda to the rescue. Apply as described to fight odours and then follow the cleaning routine above. If any stain remains, fear not, the board is still safe to use and the stain will fade over time with continued use.

Scratches
With normal use, your board will develop light scratches on the surface from your knives. These are nothing to worry about because of the self-healing nature of wood. That being said, if your board develops deeper scratches they can affect the appearance and possibly the hygiene of your food, it’s time to take some action. To address this issue you will need sandpaper in both coarse and fine grit. You can use the sandpaper on a sanding block or an orbital sander if you prefer. Using the coarse grit sandpaper, sand the surface of the board until it appears smooth. Remove any dust from the board and then move to the fine grit sandpaper, ensuring the entire surface is smooth and even. You can now follow the instructions above to clean, oil and condition your board and it should look amazing once again.