Wooden Wonders Butcher Block Cutting Boards, Utensils & Conditioners

Winter is the time of year when things tend to dry out indoors. There are many things you can do to help reduce the harsh effects of winter indoors.

Maintaining proper humidity levels is key to controlling expansion and contraction of wood. We find that we get more inquires during the winter here at Wooden Wonders probably because customers are discovering things are warping and cracking.

Wooden Wonders Beeswax Butcher Block Conditioners work well to help reduce the likelihood that your cutting boards will warp and crack and has many other useful applications including conditioning your soapstone countertops or even removing makeup.

As we use our cutting boards they are continually exposed to moisture from the food we are chopping up. If you have a cutting board that is bowed, this is normally due to one side of the board absorbing more moisture than the other. Thus, it's better to avoid running water over your boards or like a pot that needs to be submerged when washed.

Here are a few suggestions:

1) Start by conditioning your board by coating it with Wooden Wonders Beeswax Butcher Block Conditioner. The mineral oil component of the conditioner will soak into the board creating a barrier and the beeswax rests on the surface of the board causing moisture to bead up on the surface. Mineral oil alone will work but not quite as effectively as the combination product. Avoid most natural oils because they tend to go rancid over time.

2) After each use we typically take a straight edged knife or rubber spatula to scrape food particles off the board and along with it will come most of the moisture.

3) After the food particles are removed some use a diluted bleach solution to sanitize their boards, others use course salt and cut up lemons to reduce odors. Some use hydrogen peroxide, others wipe the board clean using an antibacterial soaps. (Please write in with your methods so we can share ideas).

4) If the board gets exposed to a lot of water, it works well to take the board and rest it against your back splash. Some people add rubber feet to the back side of their boards to promote airflow under the board. In the case of reversible boards, you might consider purchasing at your local hardware store the stick on type of rubber feet that come in packages so you can periodically switch sides.

5) Normally when boards dry out in the winter time its because you have allowed your home to dry out too much. Here at Wooden Wonders we keep a humidifier running to reduce the likelihood of this occurring. Similarly its better not to allow your cutting boards to get too much direct exposure to the sun.

In our next blog (check back) we will talk about Soapstone and other uses for Wooden Wonders Beeswax Butcher Block Conditioner.