How to Wash and Oil your cutting board

You just bought the most beautiful cutting board from Gum Creek Boards. You love it so much you cannot wait to put it to good use. You want it to stay as beautiful and clean as the day you bought it! There is just one problem… how do you keep it as beautiful and clean? Quickly, you rush to your computer, search gumcreekboards.com, and find the blog. And that, my friend, is how you arrived here. You want to know how to keep your board in pristine condition! Well, lucky for you, this blog is going to teach you how to do just that! 

Let’s begin with washing your cutting board. First things first, DO NOT PUT YOUR CUTTING BOARD IN THE DISHWASHER! This is the quickest way to ruin your nice, new, beautiful cutting board! Now, the first thing you want to do when washing your cutting board is to make sure you have gotten rid of all the leftover food on your board. Next, now this is the easy part, turn on some warm water. When you wash your cutting board, make sure you rinse both sides of your board, but do not completely submerge your board in water and leave it there. It’s a rule because it’s happened!

The whole surface, front, back, and sides, should be covered in water. Now you can put your dish soap on the board. I prefer Dawn Dish soap, but any dish soap will do. Put a little soap on the front and back. You can use a sponge, towel, or your hand to evenly distribute the soap on the watered surface of the board. Now, rinse the soap off, and voilà! 

You have a clean, although damp, cutting board. When you have finished rinsing your cutting board, the drying process is very important! You should first wipe the cutting board with some sort of kitchen towel. Then you need to allow the board to air dry on its side! This is super important! If you lay your board on its face while it is wet, it will warp. So, you let the board dry on its side! Let’s highlight the key dos and don’ts of this process: 

Do: 

• Wet both sides of your cutting board with warm water
• Wash with sponge 
• Dry the board with a towel
• Place it on its side to dry evenly  

Don’t: 

• Only wet one side of the board 
• Put your board in the dishwasher 
• Lay your board on its face or back when it is drying 
• leave your board submerged in water

Now it’s time to learn how to properly oil your board. Make sure your cutting board is completely dry before you apply oil! Here at Gum Creek Boards, we recommend you use a food-grade mineral oil, which you can find at your local grocery store. When your board is completely dry you should generously apply your oil to both sides of the board. You can use a kitchen rag to spread the mineral oil all over your board.  

The key here is to let the oil soak into the wood. That means that you should let your board dry on its side, preferably on a drying wrack! Mineral oil is very good for your wood cutting board as it helps maintain and reinforce the wood fibers. In other words, it keeps your wood boards healthy and it keeps your board from warping! You should do this regularly with your cutting boards, at least once a week.