My Boardsmith board update

[dixiegal]

Wanted to give an update on my Boardsmith board that I kinda messed up by putting baking soda and water on it. (turned the surface a little gray and weathered looking)

After the great advice on sanding it off, I tried it. I just went with hand sanding and it has turned out great. Took several sheets of sand paper because the oil and wax just kept gunking it up, but it worked. It is so nice now, because I sanded off the grain that had raised with use of the board. It is so smooth now and only someone looking for the change in color might notice it. I think with oiling and use, it will all blend and not be noticeable at all.

The side that I sanded turned out so nice and smooth, that I just sanded the other side a little too, so it would be just as smooth. I think that might be a once a year thing. Just lightly sanding my end grain board to smooth it out a little.

I think in the future, I will clean with salt and maybe a lemon or lime.

[escondido123]

Be very careful of bleach. I told an acquaintance friend years ago that I used that on my board "when I felt it needed it" and when I went to her house a year later all her butcherblock counters were basically bleached white....I said nothing and I guess she thought that was just fine.

[Chemicalkinetics]

Good to point out. It should be diluted bleach.

[escondido123]

I told her diluted but forgot she was a clean freak so I think she did it every day!

[Chemicalkinetics]

Esco,

So what you do you use to disinfect your board? I actually use none. Maybe because I am lazy, or maybe because I have never gotten sick from my own kitchen. Don't get me wrong, I have gotten two noticeable cases of foodbrone illness. They just happened to have nothing to do with my kitchen.

[escondido123]

I don't use anything extra, just hot water, soap and a good scrub. I figure that's clean enough.

[Chemicalkinetics]

Sometime I don't even use soap -- depending what I cut. If I cut bread or fruit..., I just wash it with water. :D

Less extra than you.

[escondido123]

I'm with you. During the day we have a "bread" board that gets used for toast, sandwiches and fruit/veg. Crumbs get brushed off, juice from produce swiped with a damp paper towel. Then before dinner, it gets a scrub before we begin to prep dinner.

[Chemicalkinetics]

< I just went with hand sanding and it has turned out great.>

Good to hear. That is what I did too to my cutting board too.

<I will clean with salt and maybe a lemon or lime.>

White vinegar, diluted beach, hydron peroxide also works too. Whatever is easiest for you.

[dixiegal]

>White vinegar, diluted beach, hydron peroxide also works too. Whatever is easiest for you<

I will keep all these in mine. Oh and when sanding, I did the 'wax on, wax off' thing. Good excersise for hands, wrist, arm and shoulders. LOL

[Eiron]

I would be cautious about using hydrogen peroxide. I believe it's also used to bleach/weather/age wood products.

http://www.biochemj.org/bj/032/0702/0...

Maybe just sticking with salt/citrus?
Or, like me, just decide that if you're washing it well & oiling it regularly, you don't care what residual odors hang around.

(Yeah, I know - you can't do that, can you?) :-)

[Chemicalkinetics]

<I would be cautious about using hydrogen peroxide. I believe it's also used to bleach/weather/age wood products.>

True. For sanitation, hydrogen peroxide is not bad. The advantage of hydrogen peroxide is that its by product are: oxygen and water which are both very safe and without any aftertaste, whereas if I use liquid bleach, then it should be thorougly cleaned. You are correct that both liquid bleach and hydrogen peroxide have the bleaching effects.

Again, I personally mostly just use water and detergent -- sometime just water.