How to Season (+ Restore) Wood Cutting Boards

Wood cutting boards are the best all-around material for a cutting board, they are forgiving to your knife edge meaning they stay sharper longer, according to a University of Wisconsin study bacteria has a lower survival rate on wood than plastic, aka wood cutting boards, are more sanitary than plastic, and they just look good.

It's got the looks and the functionality, so how do we care for the backbone of our cooking experiences? Let's learn how.
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Filmed on: Sony a6400 w/ 18-105mm F4
Voice recorded on Lav Mic
Edited in: Premiere Pro #WoodCuttingBoard

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[lookitsagrape]

Woodworker here: There is a small step you should add to avoid the board feeling rough when it gets wet. After the second sanding, you should give the board a light spray with water and let it air dry for +/- 20 minutes. This will make the fibers of the wood stand up straight (much like your hair when you get it wet before you shave). Use your finest sandpaper to give it one last sanding to get rid of these tiny fibers, THEN apply your finish.

[dericksmith]

I’m 53 and built my cutting board when I was early 20’s. 2” X 2” oak strips 30”X20” finished size. (I had access to an industrial cabinetry planer at time of build.) I clean it regularly, mineral oil it every 1-2 months, and will sand it down (just with an orbital palm sander 280 grit) every couple of years. It gets used every day, and was in use all thru both my sons growing up (so it seen lots of idiot ninja crap - damn kids). Still looks great tho. I’m at a point where I need to have it planed as it’s got a bit of a wobble (cupping warp?), but I jus5 flip it over and it doesn’t wobble.

[cuper]

I've been an amateur furniture maker longer than I've been an amateur cook. If you do this like a furniture maker would, wipe on a generous but not sloppy amount of finish, wipe off the excess after 5 or 10 minutes, let thoroughly dry (overnight). Repeat this process as many times as you see the wood still soaking up most of the finish. When most of the finish is still unabsorbed after 10 minutes, wipe off, let dry overnight and you're done. The more often you treat the board, the less layers of finish required each time.

[ColinMakesAllTheThings]

I love that you're putting this out there! As Larry David would say, "I respect wood."

[imtyaz]

Good stuff. Was going to chuck my wooden board since it looked too old. Found your video and now I’m fixing it. Thanks!

[ijtl]

First time seasoning my cutting boards today thanks to this video! The natural color of the wood really came out after the seasoning it! Thanks for the tutorial

[chloeokorn]

Wow I literally just bought a new gorgeous teak chopping board intending to throw out my old wooden chopping board! Now I think I’m seasoning the new one and restoring the old one! I can’t wait to see how it comes up

[robertbeining]

Thanks Ethan. Yep, my two fave boards look like yours. I know what to do now. Stay Strong, Be Well, Rock On!

[oreogiri]

Thank you for introducing this subject. Much needed by most cooks.

[lerynqb]

So I see there are alot of comments and I don't know if you'll get to see this of others.

I live in South Africa this means getting products that are certifiedfood friendly is a hard find and an expensiveproductwhen u do find itm, wooden products have always been a preference for me. So cutting boards are wood without question. I'm a passionate carpenter (not my work profession)... this video was extremely helpful. When you motioned that bees wax ath a wood treatmentalmost made me dance😂. ...ive been so unsure of what to use to treat the wood. Linseedoil will leave a horribletas5e...wood sealantis a chemicalso than u i rwally applicate this vid as u are also doing it for the 1st time it gave me insightto how to start .

[bleutitanium]

Wow !! I never thought of my cutting board. What a great tip !!

[janetbowen]

Bought a cutting board from a yard sale. It is the striped one you have in the video. I am eager to get this board ready to use. Thank you. job.

[TheClarkbautista]

Awesome, I just got my iron wood cutting board and now prepared to give it some love.

[EmanuelaleunamE]

Thank you so much for this! I just upgraded from a cheap plastic cutting board to a beautiful walnut one from The Boardsmith, and I've been so worried about being too rough on it, not just because of the price, but because it feels "softer" than the old plastic one (which to my inexperienced mind means it's not as durable). This gives me the absolute confidence to not be afraid to really put it to use. Wow! Again, thank you.

[captain]

my dude im typing in notepad as you speak and piling my amazon shopping cart lol. my board is as dry and crusty as the Atacama desert. Thanks!

[michaelsullivan]

You should only ever jump up in grits by a factor of 50%

So 80-120
120-180 and so on

This will make sanding a better experience

Easier to do and better finish

Also the wood will absorb the oils better if you stop at 220/240 grit

Any higher is really used between coats of finishes or paint

[scottburghart]

Beautiful cutting boards and quick easy process, thanks!

[andabien]

Good video. I perked up my cutting boards and knife handles a while back. Might be time to do it again.
However, some woodworkers would say not to jump from 180 to 320 sandpaper. It's just less work to gradually step up from a coarser to a finer sandpaper. And 320 sandpaper is very fine, perhaps extremely so. You can buy a packet of sandpaper that already has a nice assortment of grades.

[hirschowitz]

Thank you very much. Lockdown kitchen project today. Miss Jenny

[nancyleitner]

I just did that with the same product two weeks ago. I also did my wooden utensils also.