Cutting Board Care
Every Charis Studios cutting board leaves our Leo, Indiana workshop sealed, signed, and ready for a long life at your table — whatever its grain or species. Here's how to keep it beautiful for decades, and what to do when life happens to it. Questions anytime: we're a quick note away.
Everyday care
- Hand wash with warm water and mild dish soap. A soft sponge is all it needs.
- Towel-dry right away, then let it finish drying standing on edge so air reaches both faces evenly — even drying is how a board avoids warping.
- Never soak it, never put it in the dishwasher, and don't leave it flat in a puddle.
The renewal ritual
Your board left the shop wearing Odie's Oil — a plant-based, food-safe, zero-VOC hardwax finish. When the wood starts to look pale or feel dry (every 1–3 months with regular use):
- Refresh with a small amount of Odie's Oil or a comparable hardwax maintenance oil: work it in with a cloth, wait twenty minutes, then buff off everything that didn't absorb. A little goes remarkably far.
- Skip ordinary mineral oil — it can't bond with a hardwax finish and will interfere with future refreshes.
When life happens
- Onion ghosts & fish memories: scrub with half a lemon and a handful of coarse salt, rinse, dry.
- Knife scars: a light hand-sand with 320-grit followed by a finish refresh erases the worst of them.
- Raw meat: wash promptly with hot soapy water and dry standing up. Wood is naturally inhospitable to bacteria, but promptness is the real hygiene.
- Keep it away from radiators, stovetops, ovens, and long stretches of direct sun.
The long view
These pieces are built to be repaired, not replaced. Sanded, re-oiled, re-buffed — a Charis Studios board in year twenty should look like it has lived well, not like it has worn out. If yours ever needs more than a home ritual can fix, write to us. We'd rather restore a piece than see it retired.
Caring for a resin serving tray? See the Serving Tray Care guide.
Show us your table: @charisstudiosofficial