How to Seal a Cutting Board

Properly knowing how to seal a cutting board is a great way to ensure you get the most out of your wooden boards. Keeping up with their maintenance is the best way to take care of them (and minimize the amount of work you have to put in) but sometimes you have to go all in to restore your cutting boards.

I make my own wood butter for my cutting boards. Normally, I'm pretty good about taking the time every month or so to coat them with this butter in order to maintain them. But sometimes, that task gets forgotten. When this happens and the wood begins to get sort of pilly, it means it's time to refinish the cutting boards.

Sealing a cutting board is really simple and there's no need for harsh chemicals, just like when you are restoring copper cookware and getting rust off of cast iron. Let's give new life to those boards!

spreading board butter across a wooden cutting board. there is a jar of wood butter to the side

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How to know when it's time to restore your cutting boards
First things first...
How to prevent the need for refinishing in the future
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What you need
How to Refinish a Cutting Board
Tips
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How to Seal a Cutting Board

How to know when it's time to restore your cutting boards

Whenever your wooden cutting boards begin to look dry, it's time to assess if you need to coat them with cutting board butter or fully refinish them! If the wood is looking sort of pilly and damaged, it's time to restore it.

a stack of cutting boards that need to be refinished

First things first...

Before jumping in to start sealing a cutting board, you need to make your own board butter. I have a super easy 2 ingredient board butter recipe for this project! Make that and allow it to cool before beginning this project.

Why bother restoring a cutting board?

Taking the time to reseal your cutting boards not only saves you money, but it's also eco-conscious. We don't want to be wasteful! Taking the time to do this ensures you are getting as much use out of your cutting boards as possible!

How to prevent the need for refinishing in the future

Let's talk about how to wash your wooden cutting boards as well as how to maintain them so you don't have to go through this process all the time.

Don't use the dishwasher - Wooden cutting boards, utensils, and/or utensils with wooden handles should never ever go through the dishwasher!
Over saturating - When washing your wooden cutting boards by hand, don't soak them or over saturate them. Use a damp cloth to gently clean their surfaces.
Light pressure - Using a damp cloth to wash by hand is my biggest recommendation. Don't apply too much pressure! Be gentle so you aren't fraying the wood.
Wood butter - As previously mentioned, keeping up with conditioning the wood with wood butter helps to maintain them for longer periods of time. Simply rub wood butter all over the surface, wipe off any excess, and allow it to dry overnight before using. Make this a monthly habit or just coat your boards whenever they are starting to look a bit dry.

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pinterest graphic of sealing a cutting board

What you need

How to Refinish a Cutting Board

1.) Sand your cutting board lightly, going with the grain, using 220 grit sandpaper.

2.) Wipe off the dust.

3.) Coat the cutting board with your homemade wood butter.

4.) Wipe off any excess wood butter.

5.) Allow it to dry overnight before using.

cutting boards that have been sealed drying out

6.) Repeat this process monthly or as needed to maintain your cutting boards!

Tips

Use 220-grit sandpaper.
Sand with the grain of the wood.
Be sure to wipe off all the dust before applying wood butter!
Never put wood cutting boards through the dishwasher.
Repeat this process monthly or as needed to maintain your cutting boards. Whenever they begin to look dry, it's time to assess if you need to coat them with cutting board butter or fully restore them!

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