Give Your Cutting Boards a Fresh New Look With These Simple All Natural Ingredients

Give Your Cutting Boards a Fresh New Look With These Simple All Natural Ingredients

We can all agree how frustrating it is to have a stained smelly cutting board, especially for the classic wood cutting boards made from a beautiful wood like walnut, olive or maple.

So what do you do when putting into your dishwasher is not an option? Keep on reading, and we will share our top secret products that will get rid of staining and unpleasant smells for good.

Lemon Juice

In a perfect world, I’d have a lemon tree in my backyard. Not only is it an essential ingredient to various dishes and drinks, it also contains key elements that make it an effective cleaning solution. As a highly acidic fruit, lemon carries a very agreeable citrusy fragrance that can help neutralize more pungent odors that may have made it onto and into your cutting board like onions, garlic or raw meat. Rinsing your board with lemon juice will help you both kill food-borne bacteria and deodorize the smells that may incur.

Vinegar

Similar to lemon, vinegar is another versatile and useful ingredient. Known for a great addition to elevate your dishes with its tangy taste, vinegar is also an amazing cleaning solution with its ability to kill bacteria. Regular white distilled vinegar contains about 5% of acetic acid that can kill foodborne bacteria like salmonella, E. Coli and others. Say goodbye to harmful chemicals because you won’t need them next time you deep clean your cutting boards.

Baking Soda

Sometimes we may overlook staining as it seems to be a common issue in your kitchen, but you should know that stained wood cutting boards can be both an aesthetic and health concern. Staining is caused by excess fats, grease, and juices that may have run off in earlier food prep. Baking soda is also called sodium bicarbonate, which is a mild alkali that makes it easier for stains to soften and be more easily cleaned with water. That’s the reason why baking soda has always been a trusty ingredient in various cleaning concoction.

Coconut Oil

Deep cleaning is an important step to revive your cutting boards, but regular seasoning is another step that you shouldn’t overlook if you want your board to retain its original condition. However, not all commercially available seasoning oils are safe to use, because most of them are derived from petroleum by products and barely make the grade as food-safe.

If you are into all-natural products, you may have guessed the magic oil that almost solve “every” problem called coconut oil. Since a fat featuring primarily medium chain triglycerides, coconut oil has unique antimicrobial properties that make it an excellent oil to use for reviving and rehydrating the fibers in your wood cutting board. As it marries the two most amazing all-natural ingredients, combining beeswax with coconut oil guarantees much more long lasting application. A regular monthly or bi-monthly seasoning with some all natural coconut oil will yield a board that is healthy and long lasting for years to come.

Now you know maintain your wood cutting boards better than a dishwasher ever could. Next time you think of bringing back the clean fresh feel for your cutting board, grab these four simple ingredients that are probably already in your pantry (or are easily available at the grocery store).