Question #1: How do I clean and sanitize my wood cutting board?

You should clean your cutting board/chopping block with mild soap and hot water.  Wipe with cloth or sponge and lightly rinse.  After washing, dry with cloth to remove excess water.  NEVER soak your cutting board in the sink or wash it in the dishwasher.  Doing either one of these will ruin your beautiful cutting board/chopping block.  You should sanitize your cutting board/chopping block with a 1 to 5 bleach water mixture (1 part bleach, 5 parts water). It is best to do this after each use especially when cutting meat products. Use a spray bottle to keep the mixture in, lightly spray the cutting board and let air dry. Keep a spray bottle full under your sink for easy access.  ALWAYS KEEP CUTTING BOARD DRY WHEN STORING. 

Question #2: How do I maintain my beautiful cutting board?

Your cutting board will be shipped to you fully season with 100% mineral oil. You can buy butcher block oil, however we recommend 100% mineral oil as it is the exact same thing and is less expensive then butcher block oil.   You can buy 100% mineral oil in your local grocery store (check in the laxitive section).  NEVER use cooking oils such as vegetable, canola, these will cause your cutting board/chopping block to get ransid.  When seasoning be sure to cover entire cutting board/chopping block with the oil and allow it to sit 6 to 8 hours.  You should season your cutting board/chopping at least once a week.  Doing this once a week will keep the beautiful luster in your cutting board/chopping block.

ALWAYS ALLOW CUTTING BOARD TO AIR DRY AFTER ANY CLEANING METHOD BEFORE RE-SEASONING.

Question #3: What if the oil I have put on won’t soak in?

This means that your cutting board / chopping block is seasoned well enough.  First try to wipe off the excess oil with a paper towel and allow cutting board/chopping block to sit overnight. If you still have excess oil on it you can use a very small amount of rock salt to clean off the oil.  Take the rock salt and rub it lightly over the cutting board/chopping block and rinse lightly with water.  This needs to be done quickly as you do not want to remove to much of the oil from the wood.  If you have used to much rock salt simply start the seasoning process over with the oil.

Question #4: What if my cutting board / chopping block has lots of cuts in it?

Do not worry about the small cuts or scratches in the wood.  It is a cutting board and meant to be used, however if it is looking very scratched and has a lot of cuts you can simply take some fine grit sand paper (150 grit to 220 grit) and sand the cutting board/chopping block surface.  When finished sanding make sure to re-season your cutting board/chopping block with 100% mineral oil until it will not soak up any more oil. 

Question #5: What if my cutting board/chopping block retains a odor?

There are a few methods that can be used to remove odors from your cutting board/chopping block depending on what the odor is from.

 1. If odors are acid in nature, sprinkle your cutting board/chopping block with baking soda, then sprinkle with water moistening baking soda.  Leave on for 30 minutes then rinse.  You may need to re-season your cutting board/chopping block after rinsing.

 2. If odors are alkaline, spray white vinegar on your cutting board/chopping block.  Leave on for 30 minutes then rinse.  You may also need to re-season after rinsing your cutting board/chopping block.

 3. If you have cut seafood/fish on your cutting board/chopping block you can also use cut lemon to remove the odor and flavor left behind from seafood/fish.  Simply rub lemon on your cutting board/chopping block then rinse.  You will have to re-season after this method as the lemon juice will remove the oils.

ALWAYS TOWEL DRY AND THEN ALLOW YOUR CUTTING BOARD TO COMPLETELY AIR DRY AFTER ANY CLEANING METHOD AND BEFORE RE-SEASONING.