Maintenance of a wooden cutting board

A cutting board is a friend for life. Just like any relationship, you have to take care of it. Do not worry, it is not very binding.

1. Complete maintenance of the wooden cutting board

The complete maintenance involves several steps but has to be carried out only every 2 to 4 months. 

To provide complete maintenance of your cutting board, you will need different things: lemon or vinegar, sea salt, a sink and a tea towel. 

Lemon is necessary to disinfect the wooden cutting board and to reinforce it thanks to its antioxidant and antiseptic properties. 

For its part, sea salt absorbs water and deposits thanks to its absorbing properties, and by means of capillarity. Salt, therefore, cleanses the board. The maintenance involves 6 steps: 

• Spread lemon or vinegar on the cutting board.

• Add sea salt on it

• With the tea towel, scrub the board.

• Leave to act for 15 minutes

• Rinse the wooden cutting board with clear water

• Wipe it with a clean tea towel or a  (reusable) paper towel. 

2. Interim maintenance of the cutting board

Daily cleaning

After each use, it is of course normal to clean your cutting board.   It is imperative to do it with dishwashing liquid after cutting meat or fish because these ingredients pass bacteria easily. 

However, a simple rince with clear water is sufficient to clean your board after cutting vegetables or juicy fruits.  

After this cleaning, do not forget to let the cutting board dry. Wood is a material which works, it is living. It can curl if it is not dried properly, and it can quickly make the board unusable.  

This is the most important thing to remember : ALWAYS DRY THE CUTTING BOARD after cleaning it and ALWAYS PLACE IT UPRIGHT to avoid water retention, water infiltration or mold.

Oil your cutting board

This step can be completed quite frequently, every time you feel your cutting board needs it.   

It is easy to detect: a "thirsty" cutting board is lighter and more easily notched by knife blades.  

It seems obvious that we have to oil a cutting board, but I wonder how many of you really do it enough. :)

This step can be completed after all types of cleanings. The best way to oil your board is to use an odorless and tasteless oil, to avoid giving taste or smell to the food that you will cut after the oiling. 

It is recommended that you use grapeseed oil or almond oil (to be avoided is you are allergic to shell fruits). 

Nevertheless, never use olive oil on your cutting board, because it makes it sticky, greasy and dirty.  

A single slogan: oil until your cutting board can not absorb oil anymore. This helps to create a protective layer around the wood.

3. Why maintaining one's chopping board?

When you buy a cutting board, you want to keep it for years, especially if you buy a beautiful one. In addition, if it is a beautiful olive wood board, you will be less likely to see it getting damaged and have to throw it soon. 

The point of buying a wooden cutting board is to avoid buying a plastic one, which is less durable and less hygienic.

For more information, read our blog called "What tree specie to choose for a cutting board?"

From a theoretical point of view, wood is a living material: it works, can split or curl under the effect of frequent changes of humidity and temperature.  

These slits can also shelter bacteria, which you should avoid. All types of chopping boards get scratched with the passage of knifes. 

With a plastic cutting board, bacteria stay more easily in the slits (that close after the passage of the blade) while wooden boards slits stay open and allow all bacteria to be eliminated during the cleaning.   

Moreover, wood contains tannin, a natural antibacterial.

The maintenance of a cutting board is important for the environment, hygiene and its durability.

4. Is the cutting board compatible with the dishwasher? 

The dishwasher is a very beautiful invention that makes our lives a lot easier.

Unfortunately, it is a system that uses water at a very high temperature, which aggresses the board and dry it quickly.  

This washing system is harmful to the durability of your wooden cutting board. If you put it in the dishwasher, it will rapidly tend to split and curl, always for the same reasons. 

No, a beautiful wooden chopping board is not compatible with the dishwasher if you want to keep it for a long time.

To conclude …

It is actually easy to take care of your wooden cutting board and to keep it for years.  

See you soon,