How to Clean Wooden Cutting Boards With Natural Products

Cutting boards can take a lot of abuse.

Because the wood in cutting boards is porous, bacteria can easily grow within. In addition to daily cleanups with mild soap, you need to clean the cutting board thoroughly once a week to avoid both bacteria and odor problems caused by vegetables, such as onions. Try using a simple, all-natural method rather than harsh bleaches.

Things You'll Need

• Lemon
• Salt
• Clean cloth

Instructions

1. Use lemon juice. Lemon juice is a natural bleach. It will clean, deodorize and bleach away stains on your wooden cutting boards. If you have wooden utensils, lemon juice will also clean them. The fresh lemon scent is much better than bleach.

2. Add some salt to your lemon juice if you want to try something just a little bit stronger. Experiment with different combinations until you get the one that you prefer. Lemon juice and salt together make a perfect cleaning team. The salt provides an abrasion, the lemon a natural bleach and deodorizer.

3. Apply the mixture to the board and scrub it around with a clean cloth. If the stain is particularly stubborn, consider letting the mixture sit for a few minutes.Then you can scrub the stain out much more easily than before. Just be careful while doing this.

4. Wipe off any excess salt and rinse with hot water. Apply a small amount of warmed oil onto the now-clean wood surface. The oil will leave the surface looking sleeker, and will help coat it to protect it from stains in the future.

References

• Mary Crimmins; How to Clean Your Wood Cutting Board; May 17, 2011