Guides
How to clean a wooden chopping board and remove smells and stains
The short answer: wash a wooden board in hot soapy water straight after use, rinse it, towel it dry and stand it on its edge to finish drying. For smells, scrub with coarse salt and half a lemon. For stains, use a bicarbonate of soda paste. Never soak it and never put it in the dishwasher.
Everyday cleaning
Scrape off scraps with the back of a knife or a bench scraper. Use the spine, not the edge.
Wash both sides with a brush or cloth and hot water with a little washing-up liquid. Wash the underside too, even if you only used the top.
Rinse under hot running water. Do not fill the sink and leave it there.
Wipe off the water with a tea towel.
Stand the board on its edge, or in a rack, so air reaches both faces. Leave it to dry fully before putting it away.
After raw meat, fish or poultry, wash the board straight away, with plenty of hot soapy water and a good scrub, before using it for anything else.
How to remove smells: salt and lemon
Onion, garlic and fish are the usual culprits. Lemon juice cuts through them and coarse salt scrubs them out of the surface.
Sprinkle a tablespoon or two of coarse salt over the damp board.
Cut a lemon in half and use the cut side to scrub the salt in circles over the whole surface, squeezing as you go.
Leave it for 5 minutes.
Scrape off the grey paste, rinse with hot water, and dry on edge.
How to remove stains: bicarbonate of soda
For beetroot, berries, turmeric, red wine and the shadow of a tomato, make a paste of 1 tablespoon of bicarbonate of soda with about 1 teaspoon of water. Spread it over the stain, leave it for 10 minutes, scrub with a damp brush, rinse and dry. Repeat for stubborn marks. A little lemon juice in the paste helps with turmeric.
How to freshen: white vinegar
Once a week or so, or after something pungent, wipe the board with undiluted white vinegar on a cloth. Leave it for a few minutes, rinse with hot water and dry. The vinegar smell goes as it dries.
What never to do
- Never soak a wooden board. The wood swells unevenly and splits, warps or opens at the glue lines.
- Never put it in the dishwasher. The heat, water and long cycle do the same damage, faster.
- Never dry it flat or on a radiator. Lying flat traps water underneath; fierce heat dries one side too fast and cracks it.
Deep stains and scores: sand it back
A solid hardwood board can be restored. If a stain will not lift or the surface has gone rough:
Let the board dry completely.
Sand the surface with 120 grit sandpaper on a block until the stain has gone and the surface is even.
Follow with 240 grit until it is smooth to the touch.
Wipe with a damp cloth to raise the grain, let it dry, and give it a last light pass with 240 grit.
Brush and wipe off all the dust, then oil it.
Always finish with oil
Scrubbing, vinegar and sanding all strip some oil from the wood. Give the board a coat of food-safe mineral oil afterwards and leave it overnight. Season Chopping Board Oil (£10, 236ml) is pure food grade mineral oil, colourless, odourless and tasteless, and the Oil Applicator with Cover (£12) spreads it evenly with no mess. The full method is in how to oil a chopping board.
Our Teak End Grain Chopping Board (£70-£120) is naturally high in oil, so it resists moisture well, and it is made to be washed, dried and oiled for years. It is not dishwasher safe.
For the longer view, read how to maintain your wooden chopping board and wood or plastic chopping board.
Questions people ask
Can I use washing-up liquid on a wooden chopping board? Yes. A little in hot water is exactly right. Rinse it off and dry the board straight away.
How do I get the onion smell out of a chopping board? Scrub with coarse salt and half a lemon, leave for 5 minutes, then rinse and dry.
Can I put a wooden chopping board in the dishwasher? No. It will warp or crack. Wash it by hand. If you want a board for the dishwasher, choose a wood fibre board: natural, non-porous and dishwasher safe.
Why has my board turned grey? It is dry. Wash it, let it dry fully and give it a coat of oil overnight.
Can I sand a chopping board? Yes, a solid hardwood board can be sanded back with 120 then 240 grit and re-oiled.
Cook it with
Cook like it matters.
From the cooks at Season, a London cookshop since 2005.