How To Care For Your Wooden Chopping Board

What does it take to keep a chopping board beautiful and ready to use? Don’t worry about investing too much time, take our advice follow these three simple rules of cleaning.

It’s simple. Clean it, disinfect is and dry it!

Cleaning

Always clean your chopping board immediately after use. Letting your chopping board sit over night, soaking up liquids and food particles does a whole lot of damage in the long run. Use hot water and a sponge to scrub away any fluids and food as soon as possible, don’t forget to add a little soap too! Make sure you let your water run, this helps wash away bacteria and pushes out any particles that may be trapped in the scars of your board. Remember to never ever soak your chopping board or put it in a dish washer.

Disinfect

You may not need to do this every time you use your board, but every few weeks is sufficient! To disinfect, you can use pure white vinegar or a mixture of two tablespoons of chlorine bleach in a gallon of water. If you use anything other than pure white vinegar you may find that your board retains some on the vinegary smells. Get a towel or paper towel and wipe the solution on the board. The PH levels help kill any bacteria living on your wooden chopping board.

If you notice a mouldy-like smelly or sour scent coming from your chopping board, simply add a cup of baking powder to a cup of vinegar and coat the board in the solution. Let sit for a while, then rinse and dry. Alternatively, you can cut a lemon in half and rub it around the board until it is fully coated. Also let sit for a while before rinsing and drying.

Drying

It seems obvious, but many do not do this thoroughly enough. Once disinfected or washed, drying your board is key! Wipe it down with a dry cloth as much as possible, if not the water remaining on the board will be soaked up and eventually cause the wood fibres to swell and expand your chopping board. Our tip below helps prevent this, so read on!

An Additional Tip

Another step to treating your wooden board well is to rub mineral oil into it. Once dried you can take this step to help prevent water from entering into cracks and prevents splits from occurring. Always use a mineral oil on your cutting board. Organic oils eventually spoil and will cause your cutting board to smell, avoid these when possible. There are many readily available chopping board oils on the market, most recommend to be applied every 3-4 weeks. This is a great technique to help your chopping board last longer and remain bacteria free!