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I have a fondness for wood cooking utensils. Whenever we hit the thrift stores, I always do a quick jaunt through the kitchen section to see if I can spot any unusual or fun wood spoons, bowls, etc. Caring for wooden kitchen utensils, especially thrifted ones is a little different than metal utensils, but it’s an exercise in beauty and utility worth undertaking.
Because wood is porous and can contain all kinds of things I don’t necessarily want in my kitchen, I take care of it a bit differently when bringing home items from the thrift store:
Step 1: Sand
Give everything a gentle sanding, just to smooth out any rough edges and remove any stains that might be there. Use a fine grit sandpaper here, it’s unlikely that you’ll need to use the coarse stuff.
Step 2: Wash
After sanding, everything gets a bath in hot soapy water. Give the utensils a good wash then let everything sit in the dish drainer until it’s good & dry. Wooden kitchen utensils can warp in the dishwasher, so do this by hand to be on the safe side.
Step 3: Oil
When dry, give the wood a good, nourishing oil. You can buy products to do this but a homemade wood spoon oil is easy to whip up.
How to Make Wooden Spoon Oil:
Put the beeswax and walnut oil in the top of double boiler. Heat slowly and stir gently until the beeswax is completely melted.
Pour into a jar or tin. Allow the oil to cool and harden.
Put a lid on the container after cool and hard.
To use, coat the utensils liberally with the wood spoon oil and spread everything out onto a clean, dry rag for the night. Also, the wood spoon oil softens the skin, so it’s a bit of an extra bonus.
Step 4: Buff
In the morning, give everything a good buffing. Simply use a clean cotton rag (an old t-shirt works great, too) and remove any remaining oil from the surface and buff the wood before storing.
Simple as that. The natural variations, the grain, the colors all pop more once the oil has been applied and while that might not make any difference in their usefulness, sometimes pretty is reason enough. The oil coating will also help your wooden items last longer, keep them from splitting, etc. I reapply the oil to spoons, bowls, etc. already in my collection about twice a year on average.
I’ve been saying for months now that I need to take care of my wooden cutting boards and spoons. Thanks for the reminder and the good wood oil recipe!
I am allergic to bees and hence their wax. Is there an alternate item I could use in place of it? Thanks!
I didn’t think the wax contained the venom. I haven’t tested it but I’ve read of vegans using Candelilla Wax and there is a soy wax. Maybe try those? I can’t promise the results, however.
Thank you!
I’m a servere anaphylactic to bees myself and eat honey and use their wax weekly it dosent contain the venom which people are allergic to. So if your allergic to bees wax its Not because your allergic to their sting!
You can use candelilla wax. It’s vegan and bee free. Use the same ratio that you would use for beeswax.
Thank you!
You can just use walnut oil alone or add a few drops of orange/lemon/any citrus essential oil.
Bees wax does not contain bee venom. It is safe to use
I know it is not supposed to, but I have had reaction problems in the past.
Always better to be safe than sorry!
where do you get walnut oil?
It’s in my regular grocery store, near the almond & coconut oil. It’s pricy but this batch will likely last you a long time. Amazon sells it as well (this is an affiliate link): http://amzn.to/1sdgsMf
Where would I be able to find your homemade dish soap recipe? Have you posted it on here? Thanks!
I don’t have the recipe posted, it’s mostly just some homemade lye soap that I melt down with water and add some tea tree oil too. It’s not very sudsy at all.
Would this work for bamboo utensils?
I imagine it would, though I’m not 100% certain. I don’t think bamboo is as prone to dry out and split as wood is, but I could be wrong. I would for sure give them the spoon oil and buff treatment…
I am allergic to walnuts. What other oil would you suggest.
I think olive oil would work fine but has the potential to go rancid faster, so make a smaller batch and keep an eye on it.
Olive oil goes rancid way too fast so unless you’re stripping the wood every few days (which I wouldn’t recommend) find an oil that is more stable. Shea butter may be another option, I’m testing out a coconut oil/ shea butter/ beeswax mix right now.
I didn’t know this! Thank you!
Sesame Oil or almond oil will work as well. Don’t get the toasted kind because it can add flavoring you may not want
Thanks for sharing! I didn’t know wooden spoons needed oiling, but it makes sense!
Excellent tips. I need to start doing this with our wooden kitchen utensils.
I’m glad this is useful to you.
I love my wooden spoons too, I didn’t no there was a way to clean them so I was so happy to learn this method. Happy stirring!
Thanks for sharing about wooden spoons needed oiling, I didn’t know this. It’s very helpful to me
I, myself enjoy carving my own spoons and other wooden kitchen utensils.
To make them food grade and safe I make a bees wax paste myself.
One part pure bees wax to four parts mineral oil. Just follow same recipe above to melt together.
I also process my own beeswax from combs. That’s a messy process and not advised to do outside of you live in the city. It will certainly attract a colony of bees.
Can you just use coconut oil by itself?
The coconut oil will likely just wash right off – it may protect but not nearly as much as the added beeswax (which doesn’t wash off as easily).
I started making my own wooden utensils for my apothecary and nalbinding and crochet needles. Their fairly easy to make by using a drimmel tool. I have made several small spoons, one has a fork on the opposite end, a pair of hair sticks, and of course many size needles, seeing how you can use many depending on what you want to make. I never thought about oiling them, only to coat with a natural polyurethane. Thanks for the recipe for wood oi, I will definitely be using it for the care of my utensils!