How to Care for Wooden Utensils: Best Caring Tips and Tricks
Caring about anything, whether utensils or accessories, sounds boring unless you find it interesting and exciting. Caring didn’t know that utensils may be a neglected chapter as you didn’t love it.
Whether you love it or not, cleaning wooden utensils may give birth to many problems. If you forget to dry them properly after cleaning, you may find your utensils with in-grown mold, bacteria, and many more. In that case, being conscious about caring for your kitchen wooden utensils is evident if you want them to be colorful and shiny.
Experimenting in different ways may require more time to find an accurate way to clean them. To guide you in cleaning wooden utensils righteously, herein are all the purposeful directions on how to care for wooden utensils. Let’s get started.
3 Salient Norms to Maintain While Cleaning Wooden Utensils
The entire process of cleaning wooden utensils sets needs five salient norms. Here are the ones which you must have followed.
Norms 1: Clean Them with Hand Only
Please do not put them in the dishwasher directly. It will call upon abrupt disaster to your wooden utensils. It would be best to clean them using only your hand.
Dishwashers often contain bleach, which may make them fuzzy and gray. In that case, you should be aware of using the dishwasher while cleaning. But it is best to clean them using your hand.
Norms 2: Use Hot Water and Mild Dish
While cleaning, use only hot water and a mild dish, which helps them to free from grease, dirt, and oil. Use a washcloth or bristle brush if you need to scrub them.
Note: Do not use a harsh and rough sponge or scrubber to remove dirt from them.
Norms 3: Rinse And Leave Them for Drying in an Open Wide Area
Rinse them with clean, running water by rubbing them with your hand. Leave all your utensils in an open, wide area for drying correctly. Keep the windows open so all your wooden utensils will dry properly.
How To Keep Kitchen Utensils Sets Looking Nice?
Wooden Cooking Utensils look lovely and good if you agree to follow a routine. Use a good polishing oil to polish these utensils. Polishing them with oil will form a protective barrier, controlling the wood’s natural texture and color.
Besides, oil coating is necessary since it plays an active role in preventing fading, cracks, and splitting. It helps the wood to absorb more moisture, odor, and stains.
Which Type of Oil Should I Use for Wooden Utensils Polishing?
Knowing which type of oil, you should use most while coating the wooden utensils with oil is essential. Make sure to oil them in a less harmful way and less greasy way. Here are short descriptions of what you must avoid while coating wooden utensils with polishing oil.
Avoid Using Food / Vegetable Oil
Do not use food, vegetables, olives, etc., which we use for cooking. Vegetable oil contains artificial ingredients that dry off the utensils, change their color, and turn them sticky and stinky. Also, cooking oil often produces a foul odor, making it more terrible.
Do Not Use Polyurethane and Varnishing Oil
Polyurethane and varnishing oil are also not safe to use in wooden utensils. From many reviews of non-toxic kitchen utensils, we learned that varnishing oil is harmful even though it’s not edible and can cause toxicity to the human body.
Use Linseed and Walnut Oil
Instead of using this horrible oil, use linseed and walnut oil. Those oils are safe to use and often dry quickly. For this reason, they won’t go rancid dry. Those oils are also helpful to retain the natural color and polish of the wooden utensils.
Use Beeswax for Oil Coating
You can use beeswax for oil coating as an alternative. Beeswax is safe to eat and provides beautiful, shiny, smooth surfaces that waterproof the utensils. Wooden kitchen utensils tend to melt away in high temperatures. In that case, using beeswax is often risky since it can melt in high heat. To avoid it, you have to maintain it.
Petroleum Base Coating Oil Is Safe
Petroleum-based oil is also worthy of use in this term. Petroleum-based oil is also worthy of use in this term. Petroleum-based oil requires less time to sit on the surface of wooden utensils. Although they get a bad wrap, they’re food-safe. Petroleum-based coating oil penetrates best and won’t go rancid or leave a sticky residue. Moreover, they’re odorless and provide your wooden utensils with a long shelf life.
How To Oil Wooden Utensils Safely And Effectively?
Here is the complete guidance for oiling wooden utensils appropriately. Doing such a task is as simple as you used to do to others.
- Take a container and pour a small amount of oil on it.
- Wear hand gloves and use a clean, old rag to apply the oil on the wooden utensils. Allow the oil to soak for 15–20 minutes or overnight.
- Take another clean, lint-free kitchen rag or towel to buff the utensils. Buff the surface of the utensils and ensure that excess oil is removed.
- Finally, check that you have completed all the utensils to be appropriately oiled. Then, decorate them in your kitchen premises to use again.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why Buy Quality Wooden Utensils Instead of Cheap Plastic, Bamboo Made Utensils?
There are many reasons to buy high-quality wooden utensils for your kitchen instead of cheap plastic, bamboo-made ones. First, they’re resistant to dulling or dent, less prone to color fadeless, super lightweight, feel so handy in hand, and well-resistant to split and warp.
How To Get Rid of Food Stains from the Wooden Utensils Like Curry or Berries?
Use a mild sponge to remove food stains from wooden utensils like curry or berries. Scrub the surface of the wooden utensils safely. It may be cleared after giving 4–5 washes. You need to be patient during the cleaning period.
How To Get Rid of Bad Odor from Wooden Utensils?
Wash them in hot, soapy water to minimize foul odors from wooden utensils. Then, gently scrub them with a hand or a mild scrubber. Leave them to dry correctly in natural air.
Final Wrap
The kitchen is the favorite place for all of us to spend our time. Wooden utensils keep the kitchen premises more vibrant and enhance the beauty. It will let you feel the traditional cooking experiences and provide safety from many risks.
All you need to do is take care of these utensils. Our total guidance on how to care for wooden utensils will help you in this regard. They may be slightly dry, but if you clean and oil them regularly, they will last more than 2–3 years.
If you notice those wooden utensils have split ends and get thin after long-term usage, immediately replace them. Don’t hesitate to shift to a new one.