How to season and care for a wooden cutting board
A simple, food-safe routine for sealing, conditioning and maintaining wooden cutting boards and butcher blocks so they last for years.
A good wooden cutting board or butcher block can last a lifetime — but only if you feed it. Wood is thirsty: every wash strips away a little moisture, and dry timber is what cracks, warps and stains. The fix is simple and food-safe: rehydrate the wood with oil, then seal it with wax.
What you need
- Cutting Board Oil (food-grade white mineral oil) to rehydrate the wood
- Cutting Board Wax or Premium Board Conditioner to seal and protect
- Two clean, lint-free cloths
Step 1 — Start clean and dry
Wash the board with mild soap and water, then let it dry completely. Oil and wax can only soak into dry timber — applying to a damp board traps moisture and does more harm than good.
Step 2 — Feed the wood with oil
Pour Cutting Board Oil generously onto the surface and spread it with a cloth, flooding the wood. Let it soak in — ideally overnight — until the timber has drunk its fill. On a new or very dry board, repeat until the wood stops absorbing.
Step 3 — Seal with wax
Once the oil has absorbed and you have wiped off any excess, apply a thin, even layer of Cutting Board Wax with a clean cloth. Leave it for 20–30 minutes (overnight for new timber), then buff off the excess to a soft sheen. The wax cures at the surface to leave a water-resistant seal.
Step 4 — Keep it up
- New boards: oil weekly for the first month, then monthly.
- Established boards: re-treat whenever the wood looks dry or water no longer beads on the surface.
- Boards washed daily will need feeding more often than display pieces.
All Joe Mama’s kitchen products are food-safe once the excess has been buffed off — made from food-grade white mineral oil and beeswax.
