Off to purchase some coconut oil!
I archived the link for later referall: http://archive.today/2025.02.17-101747/https://www.eater.com/24204468/how-to-preserve-wooden-cooking-tools-spoons-cutting-boards
I would 100% avoid coconut oil or any organic oil for wood. It can go rancid and ruin your tools.
You can buy food grade mineral oil from your local pharmacy. Just rub some on with a cloth, and keep applying as long as the wood will soak it.
Reapply when the wood lightens.
Source: I make cutting boards and such as a hobby.
Same. This stuff is excellent and I’ve used it for years on cutting boards and butcher blocks I’ve made. It’s all natural, obviously food safe, super easy to apply with a paper towel or cloth, and the bottle lasts forever.
Mineral oil is a petroleum distillate, a byproduct of fossil fuel production. I’m not saying it’s necessarily unsafe or unethical to use, but calling it “all natural” is a bit of a reach.
I see. Thanks, I didn’t realize that.
You can (if you like) buy food grade beeswax and use a double boiler to melt the wax and oil together.
For fun more than anything else.
The risk of going rancid is pretty low in refined, or even better, MCT coconut oil. Most pro woodworkers I know use it (or products containing it, like ”Walrus Oil").
I’m curious about the bacterial growth factor that can occur with wood. Saying these things can last a lifetime without even mentioning the bacteria they can absorb and harbor makes this read more like an ad at some points.
You probably don’t want to use plastics if you’re concerned about bacteria.
Plastics can be put in the dishwasher. But then you also have to deal with microplastics.
I’m talking more about the micro abrasions plastics get.
Right I’m of the mind that silicone and metal are for me since those tools can be chucked into the dishwasher.
RIP your knifes
Yes. And they get sharpened until they die. They go in the dishwasher because my tools serve me, not the other way around, and they are adequate for what I do.
What is happening to the knives in this context?
Knives go dull much faster in the dishwasher. If you want to keep your knives sharp, you should be hand washing as soon as you’re done with them.
Also, get a damned knife block; Having your knives rattling around in a drawer is just asking for dull knives and accidents.
Knives go dull much faster in the dishwasher
Much faster feels like a bit of a stretch to me. I’ve got a set of “good knives” that I hand wash, and a Victorinox chef’s knife that I generally abuse and toss into the dishwasher.
The Vnox does dull sooner than the “good knives”, but not dramatically so, and it probably gets ~50% more usage between sharpening (I sharpen them all together), largely because you can just toss it straight into the dishwasher.
Knives dulling in your dishwasher may be a sign that they are not so stainless and are rusting at some level. I find either really cheap or really expensive knives tend to be of a less stainless grade of steel. If you’re anywhere in the middle of the quality spectrum you’re probably fine using a dishwasher (unless you’re also seeing stainless steel flatware corrode, in which case stop washing your dishes with acid).
