Is your gorgeous wooden cutting board starting to look worse for wear? Find out how to get stains out of a wood cutting board and keep your meal preparation surface sanitary. Wooden cutting boards are gorgeous; they bring character and style to your kitchen. These boards have the bonus of being gentle on your knife edges, so you spend less time sharpening.
Despite being aesthetically pleasing, wood is a natural fiber, unlike plastic, requiring extra care to keep it in top condition. Wood cutting boards can warp, split, and mold when treated improperly. Several popular techniques for getting stains out of a wood cutting board actually lead to damage. It’s essential to learn appropriate methods for how to remove stains from a wooden cutting board.
Keep your board looking its best, and don’t inadvertently deteriorate the word fiber. There’s no need to splash money on expensive chemical cutting board cleaners. Follow our simple tips and tricks to keep your cutting board clean and sterile without breaking the bank.
- How to Remove Stains From a Wooden Cutting Board
- Can You Clean a Stained Wood Cutting Board?
- Dish Soap Cleans a Wood Cutting Board
- How to Get Stains Out of a Wood Cutting Board
- Chlorine Bleach Removes Harmful Bacteria
- Getting Stains Out of a Wood Cutting Board
- Coarse Salt and Lemon Juice Wooden Board Cleaner
- Oil Your Wooden Cutting Board
- Practice Good Chopping Board Hygiene
How to Remove Stains From a Wooden Cutting Board
Wash your wooden cutting board daily after use, and do a deeper cleaning at least monthly. Like all good preparation equipment, cutting boards risk contamination. They may spread harmful bacteria to your food if not adequately cleaned.
Find out how to get stains out of a wood cutting board to clean confidently without worrying about destroying the wood grain. Explore our ideas on getting stains out of a wood cutting board with dish soap, baking soda, chlorine bleach, distilled white vinegar, lemon juice with coarse salt, and oiling your board.
Can You Clean a Stained Wood Cutting Board?
There’s nothing worse than a stubborn stain to make your previously stunning wooden chopping board look worn. Luckily, there are efficient ways to remove discoloration from cutting boards, no matter what kind you prefer for your kitchen.
Use a paper towel to gather food scraps and debris and wipe down your board. Inspect the surface, noting its condition and regions with stains.
Keeping your cutting board clean is a huge factor in food hygiene and ensuring your family doesn’t become sick from cross-contamination. Use one of our easy-to-follow cleaning tips to restore your cutting board to be clean and ready to prepare your next meal.
Dish Soap Cleans a Wood Cutting Board
We typically use liquid dish soap to wash our pots and pans, but it also makes it painless to scrub food stains off a wood cutting board. Dish soap contains mild surfactants and detergents, which alter the surface tension to cut through grease and food build-up, so it clears away readily.
The cleaning ingredients in dish soap are gentle on natural wood fibers yet tough enough to oust sticky residue stuck on a wood chopping block. Mix liquid dish detergent and warm water for an affordable cutting board cleaning solution.
Mix the dish soap qith warm water in the bowl until they’re bubbly, dip a cloth, and use this to clean your wooden cutting board thoroughly. Choosing an unscented and dye-free dish soap is crucial to avoid accidentally staining or leaving a lingering scent on your food preparation surface.
How to Get Stains Out of a Wood Cutting Board
Many people are concerned with the type of cleaner they use on their cutting board as its surface regularly contacts food. If you prefer to use a natural and food-grade cleaner to eliminate stains from a wooden cutting board, baking soda is an excellent solution.
Baking soda powder is found with baking supplies at most grocery stores. It offers an economical way to eliminate stains without using toxic substances on your cutting board. Mix baking soda powder with water to craft a mess-free stain-removal paste with just two ingredients.
Add equal amounts of baking soda powder and warm water to a small bowl and stir to make a thick paste. If the paste seems too watery, add baking soda to thicken it, or if it seems too stiff, add more water to achieve a more spreadable consistency.
Spread the baking soda paste over the board stain and leave it to dry for at least an hour. Wipe the paste off the wood with a damp cloth and let it dry.
Baking soda often lightens dark colors and may be inappropriate for deeper-toned woods. If you’re unsure if baking soda will alter the appearance of your cutting board, consider testing in a hidden area before using it in a more noticeable region.
Chlorine Bleach Removes Harmful Bacteria
Chlorine bleach is a trusted household cleaner that kills microbes and disinfects many surfaces. Its ability to thoroughly sanitize makes bleach a convenient and economical option for cleaning plastic cutting boards or wood.
Chlorine bleach destroys mold spores, food borne bacteria, and other contaminants on contact. It’s essential to dilute traditional chlorine bleach in water before using it on your cutting board to avoid damage to the wood fibers. Make a simple wooden cutting board cleaner with chlorine bleach and water.
Measure and pour the chlorine bleach and water into the basin and stir to combine. Always wear rubber gloves while working with chlorine bleach to avoid harm to your skin. Open the windows or move outside so you’re in a properly ventilated space.
Dip a cloth into the chlorine bleach to wipe down both sides of your cutting board. Allow the bleach to rest on the board for up to ten minutes before rinsing it thoroughly in cold water and leaving it to dry completely.
Getting Stains Out of a Wood Cutting Board
The acetic acid in distilled white vinegar makes washing old stains out of a wood cutting board a breeze. The acidity destroys microbes naturally, so your chopping block is sterile. Craft a quick and easy cutting board spray cleaner using white vinegar and hot water.
Measure the white vinegar and warm water into the spray bottle and spray your cutting board. Use a cloth to wipe down the surface, rinse it thoroughly and leave it to dry.
This vinegar solution can also be used to wipe away burn marks from a wood cutting board. You’ll finally have the solution to fixing a wood surface ruined by a hot pan.
Coarse Salt and Lemon Juice Wooden Board Cleaner
A lemon and some coarse salt are all-natural ingredients for removing stains from a wooden cutting board. Salt is a mild abrasive; lemons and all citrus fruits contain citric acid to break down grime and germs.
Sprinkle coarse salt over your entire cutting board, cut a lemon in half, and use the cut side of the fruit to rub the salt on the wood. Work in circular motions over the entire wood grain. Leave it for a few minutes, and use a damp cloth to wipe the excess salt away. Rinse your cutting board and leave it to dry completely.
Oil Your Wooden Cutting Board
Oiling your clean cutting board to condition the natural fibers is prudent. Never use food or biodegradable oil like coconut oil on your wooden board. Instead, choose mineral oil which won’t decompose and damage the wood grain.
Apply a small amount of pure mineral oil to a microfiber cloth and rub this over your entire board, including the edges. Oil your cutting board when you don’t plan to use it, as the oil takes several hours to soak in. Use a soft towel to wipe down your cutting board the next day to lift any excess oil and use it as usual.
Practice Good Chopping Board Hygiene
No matter how clean you keep your wooden or plastic cutting board, you still risk exposing yourself to foodborne illnesses if you don’t practice food hygiene. Wash your cutting board in warm, soapy water after each use and stand it up so all sides can dry completely.
It’s prudent to allocate one cutting board for raw meat, another for seafood, and another for foods less prone to carry microorganisms, such as vegetables. Raw meat and seafood are known to have dangerous germs on them before cooking.
Cutting raw meat on a chopping board used for other foods may lead to food poisoning. Use our uncomplicated cleaning tips to keep your cutting boards sanitary and in excellent condition, and practice good food hygiene to protect your family against illnesses.
Did this article give you the information you need for how to remove water marks off wood in the kitchen? Cutting boards are vital pieces of kitchen equipment in terms of functionality for chopping food and decoration.
Once you choose the perfect cutting board for your kitchen, keeping it clean and sanitary is essential to prevent cross-contamination and foodborne illnesses from affecting your family.
Trust proven DIY techniques to remove the germs from your wood cutting board without warping it. Don’t waste money on expensive, store-bought cutting board cleaners; use everyday items to keep your cutting board in excellent condition.
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