How To Save Your Wooden Cutting Boards From Mold

So you've made the decision to purchase a wooden cutting board (which happens to be our personal favorite material for keeping kitchen knives sharp — great pick!) and need to know how to keep it clean. Luckily, a wooden cutting board can give you up to a decade of use — but only if it's taken care of correctly.

Not only are damaged cutting boards an unappetizing sight, they also might be dangerous to use. Since cutting boards retain moisture from the ingredients chopped on them, leftover food and water hiding in a board's divots are the perfect place for mold to grow. This leaves any meals produced on top of the cutting surface potentially dangerous to consume, especially if you end up accidentally eating mold. However, there are many ways to protect and repair a wooden cutting board and banish sneaky fungi lurking in its cracks.

A popular method used to remove mold from a cutting board is by covering the board in salt and vigorously rubbing it into the wood with half of a lemon. The salt will work to flake the mold residue off of the board, and the lemon provides a fresh finish. However, this method should only be used for mild cases of mold on a cutting board. For boards with extensive mold growth, bleach may be the preferred method.

The wooden cutting board should be scrubbed with diluted bleach (2 teaspoons per half gallon of warm water should be enough) using a brush until clean. Then, rinse well to clear the board of leftover bleach residue. The clean board should then be left to air dry in order to avoid any more mold growth.

Similar to other wooden kitchen utensils, wooden cutting boards should be consistently taken care of to prolong their lifespan. Oil your cutting board to prevent it from drying out too quickly and protect it against otherwise detrimental cuts from sharp knives. Oil can also keep pesky bacteria away and prevent mold growth, which is the reason you're here in the first place!