I’ve only used plastic so far. A friend was moving and she gave me her wooden cutting board. I cut something with it, and some grease got on the cutting board. Now I can’t remove the yellow spot no matter what I do. What can I do to clean it?
Live with it. Who cares? Many tools develop marks of wear or even a patina. Try appreciate the aesthetic. I love it when my tools have unique weathering.
get you some mineral oil and beeswax. 2/1 ratio. heat them in a saucepan on low heat until combined. pour the mixture into a shallow vessel - empty tuna cans work great. allow the mixture to solidify. use a dry clean cloth to apply the paste to cutting board. let it sit for an hour and then wipe off the excess.
repeat once a month-ish or when the wood starts to lighten.
You can also get pre-mixed stuff if all that is a hassle.
I got a wooden cutting board and a tube each of oil and some stuff that seals it, those have lasted for 8 years now maybe.
well i’m a woodworker, and as such i relish a good hassle.
Understandable, I also do things the difficult way in my hobbies.
Lots of great comments here but one more awesome thing about wooden cutting boards - you can always sand off a very fine layer to expose new wood if the surface gets too gnarly. Then oil it and use it like usual again.
Sprinkle with salt, cut a lemon in half, and scour the board. Leave for a few hours, rinse and wash with dish soap.
Repeat as necessary, and every few weeks.Turn it over
Throw it out and go back to plastic.
Plastic harbors bacteria. Every cut makes a tiny groove for the wee folks to inhabit. These folks started researching wood v. plastic back in the 90s: https://cms.johnboos.com/assets/wood-vs-plastic-cutting-boards.pdf
Plastic goes in the dishwasher. Wood doesn’t. Plastic is cleaner.
Dishwashers aren’t some magical tool. They just wash so you don’t have to.
Well, that and… I put wood boards through the dishwasher all the time. Not end grain blocks, but regular low profile boards.
I was doing that with a wood board about 7 or 8 years ago, eventually a chunk fell off the side. I kept using it. Then, it warped. That’s when it was tossed and I got a plastic one.
I tossed mine and got a new one.
Plastic needs to be bleached for 30 minutes to remove contamination. A dishwasher won’t be enough.
BS
Believe what you want… if you aren’t bleaching your plastic cutting boards, you’re breeding bacteria. Wood has anti microbial properties that leeps this under control. See the link upstream for one of the best studies on the topic.
Fire
I would just keep it as is. But yeah, sounds like your board wasn’t oiled properly. Rub some mineral oil into it and leave to dry.
Just to clarify, mineral oil will never dry. It’s food-safe, but it will rub off just the same and wash out eventually.
