Best durable finish

Any kind of film finish will be destroyed in no time whatsoever.

Although they are considered food safe after curing, I would never use them for anything I’d be eating food off of.

I’ve been using mineral oil for anything like that recently. It will get washed off, but can be easily renewed.

I haven’t heard of, or found a finish that’s any better for stuff like this. But, I’m not really an expert on stuff like this. hopefully others, with more experience will pop in soon.

-- John F. SoCal transplant, chewer uppper of good wood

IMO, the best way to approach is a renewable finish that can be maintained. Educate them on how to care or have an agreement for you to care for them. Maybe have extras that you can rotate while some are getting a sprucing up.

Agreed, no film finish as it will look terrible after a few washings.

Mineral oil is the “standard” for CBs, some add bees wax and melt it in for a longer lasting treatment, but it all will need to be maintained.

Be sure to wet the surfaces after your last sanding grit to raise the grain. Let this dry then sand again to remove the “fuzz”. If you skip this step, the grain will raise after the first washing and stay fuzzy thereafter.

i agree with the mineral oil,with daily use the oil can be reapplied as needed,and when the boards get heavily worn re sanded and oiled.

-- working with my hands is a joy,it gives me a sense of fulfillment,somthing so many seek and so few find.-SAM MALOOF.

You have your answer already, but an alternative might be Walrus Oil, they make one specifically for cutting boards. Havent bought it, havent used it, have heard it is good.

-- WWBBJ: It is better to be interesting and wrong, than boring and right.

Walrus oil?

Everytime I hear the word walrus, it reminds me of that Beatles song.

Mineral oil is good but I prefer not to use it because it never cures. There is a plethora of wax and/or oil finishes available if you search. Each promises to be the best.

In my opinion heat processed walnut oil does a great job because it not only soaks into the wood it cures to a dry finish and adds a little strength to the wood fibers. I use Mahoney’s. Like all oil finishes it needs to be renewed periodically. Also processed walnut oil has no allergens.

Recently I found a walnut oil and micro crystalline wax paste finish at Wood Craft. (I can’t recall the name right now) It looks like it would be good for maintenance of the items that have been treated with walnut oil. It may also last a little longer. I applied it to items already finished with Walnut oil and it worked quite well. Time will tell if it is more durable but the was may help repel moisture and make it easier to wash them.

-- Les B, Oregon

I’ve used Walnut oil, mineral oil, and mineral oil with various waxes. Nothing I’ve found has lasted long.

That said, a friend once brought me a huge thick cutting board that he wanted me to duplicate. The board came from a big time Texas BBQ company that used a lot of them till the manufacturer in Maine quit making them. The board he brought me was almost cut through in the middle, and was no longer usable. But it still had a waxy feel to it. I duplicated the board, but could not duplicate the finish. All I could guess is that the board must have gone through some sort of pressure treating with the oil type finish. But, if so, how did the glued parts stay glued? I’ve always wondered. And I’m still using mineral oil, and sometimes ‘Walrus’ oil.

BarKote

-- The hump with the stump and the pump!

I did experiment with putting a board submerged into a bath of mineral oil, inside of a plastic box with two thick cauls over the top and bottom. The assembly was placed into my vacuum bag overnight. Basically the plastic box was protected from being crushed by the bag.

After releasing the vacuum for another 24 hours (letting the MO get pulled into the board), sawing the board in half showed 100% penetration. This was a hickory board (I don’t think hard maple would have done anything with it’s closed pores).