CUTTING BOARD MAINTENANCE

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Your hand-made cutting board has been carefully crafted and finished with the best materials available. To clean your board, simply wipe off with a soapy cloth, rinse well, and dry. Do not put your cutting board in a dishwasher or leave it in water for any period of time. Any wooden cutting board will warp or crack if mistreated. The wood has been glued together with a water-proof glue that is food safe. Your cutting board should remain flat and crack-free if maintained correctly. The oils used to treat your cutting board are also food safe. First, three coats of a deep penetrating oil are applied. It is made from coconut oil, vitamin E oil, mineral oil, and lemon oil. Once that oil has been absorbed, then two coats of Tung oil are applied. Tung oil has the ability to air dry harden. It seals the wood with a water-resistant coating that lasts for long periods of time. It may not be necessary to re-oil your board for many months depending on how often it is used and washed. By taking good care of your cutting board and maintaining it properly, it will last for many years to come!  My cutting boards are made from some of the following hardwoods: Black Walnut, Cherry, Eastern Hard Maple, Sapele, Wenge, and/or Padauk. Your cutting board is made using end-grain hardwood. The wood is cut in strips across the grain of the wood and then glued together with the end-grain showing. This has several advantages. First, the end-grain allows the sealing oils to penetrate deeply into the wood. This protects the wood from moisture and other fluids making it possible to go for long periods of time without having to re-oil. Two, when a knife cut is made across the board, the blade cuts between the fibers of the wood and they try to seal themselves back together, like running a knife through the end of a paint brush. Even after multiple cuts it is hard to see where any cuts have been made. Your board remains looking beautiful for much longer! Equally important, and it is the reason all butcher cutting blocks are end-grain, is that it is much easier on your knives. The end-grain fibers give much more easily than cutting across the grain of the wood. Thus, less wear and tear on your cutlery.