Our products are finished with oils, waxes or left natural. On-going care depends on the finish that was applied in the workshop.
Chopping Boards – mostly finished with oils, although some are left natural. Chopping boards (and all other products) should not be washed in the dishwasher or left submerged in water. A chopping board can be cleaned by rubbing with a cut lemon and then rinsed with very hot water, alternatively you can wash a chopping board with warm soapy water. In both cases dry the chopping board and store vertically. Avoid placing your board in direct sunlight.
Re-oiling your chopping board. This can be done so long as you use a ‘food-safe’ oil https://www.finewoodworking.com/2006/08/01/food-safe-finishes e.g.:
- Danish oil
- Pure Tung oil – Extracted from the nut of the china wood tree…..
- Linseed oil (raw not boiled) – Pressed from flax seeds…..
- Walnut oil – Pressed from the nuts of the walnut tree…..BUT becareful for those people with NUT ALLERGIES
- Mineral oil – although derived from petroleum, it is colorless, odorless, tasteless and entirely inert…..
- Beeswax – The work of the honey bee….
- Almond Oil…BUT becareful for those people with NUT ALLERGIES
If your chopping board has suffered an extreme amount of use (or damage) you can sand the board so that all scratches are removed. To do this you may need to use 80 grit sandpaper. Always sand with the grain. After all the scratches have been sanded out, wipe the saw dust away and then sand the whole surface of the board with successive grits of sandpaper i.e. 120, 180, 240 and finishing with 320 grit. Between each grit, it is important to wipe the sawdust away. The chopping board can then have one or more coats of a food safe oil applied (leaving 24 hours between coats) or the board can be used ‘natural’ i.e. no finish.
Bowls – are finished with oil or wax. In short an oiled bowl can be re-oiled, a waxed bowl can be wiped with a dry cloth. To re-oil a bowl, it is often not necessary to re-sand the bowl, just wipe the oil onto the bowl with a lint free cloth. After applying the oil, wait 5 minutes and then wipe off any excess oil. A wax bowl can have another coat of wax applied and buffed. Use a wax like carnauba wax.