Board Care Instructions

Board Care Instructions

Thank you for buying from MW3 Woodworks!  You bought a nice board and we thought we’d give you some tips on taking good care of it.  Cared for properly, your board should last you many years.  If you ever have a problem with your board, let us know and we’ll do everything we can to help.  Here’s a few Do’s and Don’ts…

Your board is handmade and is finished with a Food Safe finish called Walrus Oil and Walrus Wood Wax (No actual Walrus was harmed-just a clever name:).  By the time your board arrives, it will be fully cured and finished.  See below for more details on how to take care of your new kitchen buddy.  By the way, wood is a natural product and this board was hand made, so some inconsistencies are part of the package.  I mean, nobody is perfect!

Everyday Washing and Cleaning

Do:

Hand wash your board with warm, soapy water.  Who doesn’t like a good sponge bath?

Buff dry immediately.  Don’t leave your buddy wet.  That’s just mean, man.

Stand on edge to dry.  Boards do better when they look at life from an angle.  Try it yourself.  You’ll see!

Don’t:

Soak your board in water.  Fire and brimstone, dogs and cats living together.  Chaos.  Don’t do it!

Let your board sit on a wet counter top.  Unless you like the bendy, bendy.  Wood is like a bunch of straws.  It sucks up water and then bad things happen.   

Put in the dishwasher.  Seriously, the glue will fail and things will get ugly.  You do not want that.  Nobody wants an ugly board.

Use bleach.  It will stain your board.  Bad board juju.  Don’t do it.

Sanitizing and Deodorizing

Do:

For deodorizing and light staining, cut a lemon in half, sprinkle cut end with salt and scrub the board with the cut end.  The salt will provide abrasive action to remove stuck on material and the acid in the lemon juice will neutralize the fatty substances that cause odors.  The acid/salt mixture will also work on light staining.

Don’ts:

Use bleach (see above).

Let your dog or cat play with your board.  

Maintaining Your Board

Do’s

Follow the basic above, then, every six months or so,
Clean your board and thoroughly dry.
Apply a new coat of Walrus Oil or any food grade mineral oil.  

Don’ts:

Do not use any food based oils.  They can go rancid and who wants a rancid cutting board?

The “Oh, Crap!” Section:

For deeper staining, a light sanding might be required.  Use 320 grit sandpaper and go lightly, just until the stain disappears.  You’ll have to re-finish the board after that as well.  Any food grade mineral oil can be used, as can Walrus Oil or Walrus Wood Wax, which is what you board was originally finished with.  

The “I Just Can’t Cope” Section:

If you are uncomfortable trying the sand and re-finish yourself, send your board back to us and we’ll do it for you.  You can reach us at 843-304-1662.