Kitchen Care
How to Clean a Cutting Board Properly
Wash a cutting board with hot water and dish soap immediately after every use, scrub with the grain, rinse and stand it on edge to dry fully. After raw meat, poultry, fish or eggs, sanitise as well — a dilute bleach solution or a full dishwasher cycle for boards that allow it. Wood boards must never be soaked or put in a dishwasher; they warp and crack.
The everyday method (all board types)
- Scrape the debris off with the back of a knife or a bench scraper before it dries on.
- Wash with hot water and dish soap using a stiff brush, not a sponge — a brush reaches into knife scores where a sponge glides over them.
- Scrub along the grain on wood, and in both directions on plastic and steel.
- Rinse thoroughly and dry with a towel, then stand the board upright so both faces get air. A board lying flat traps moisture underneath, and that is where smell and mould start.
Sanitising after raw meat, poultry, fish or eggs
- Wash first. Sanitiser does not work through grease and food residue.
- Bleach solution: 1 tablespoon of unscented household bleach per gallon (about 4 litres) of water. Flood the surface, leave it wet for a few minutes, rinse with clean water and air dry.
- Undiluted white vinegar or 3% hydrogen peroxide left on the surface for several minutes is a gentler alternative — effective, though not as fast as bleach.
- A dishwasher's hot cycle sanitises plastic and stainless steel boards. Never put wood or bamboo through it.
- The simplest safety upgrade is a second board: keep one for raw protein and one for produce and bread.
Wood and bamboo boards
- Never soak, never dishwash. Water swells the fibres, and the board splits as it dries unevenly.
- Wash quickly, dry immediately, stand on edge.
- For stains and smells, scatter coarse salt on the board and scrub with a cut lemon, then rinse and dry.
- Re-oil once a month, or whenever water stops beading. Use food-grade mineral oil or a beeswax board cream; apply generously, let it soak in overnight, then wipe off the excess.
- Never use olive or vegetable oil — they go rancid and the board starts to smell.
Plastic boards
- Dishwasher-safe and easy, but deep knife scores hold bacteria that scrubbing will not reach.
- For stubborn stains, make a paste of baking soda and water, scrub, rinse, then sanitise as above.
- Retire a plastic board once it is deeply grooved or no longer sits flat. Grooves are not cosmetic — they are the failure point.
Stainless steel boards
- Non-porous, so nothing soaks in: hot soapy water and a rinse handles almost everything, and the board is dishwasher-safe.
- It cannot absorb garlic, onion or fish odours, which is the main reason people keep one for strong ingredients.
- Scrub any discolouration with a paste of baking soda, then wipe along the brushed grain.
- It will not warp, crack or need oiling, so there is no maintenance routine to remember.
Fixing smells and stains
- Onion, garlic and fish smell: coarse salt and half a lemon, scrubbed in and rinsed off.
- Turmeric, beetroot and tomato stains: baking soda paste, left on for 15 minutes, then scrubbed.
- Persistent smell in a plastic board usually means the grooves are holding residue, and it is time to replace it.
- A grey or fuzzy patch on wood is mould. Sand it back, wash, dry completely and re-oil — or replace the board if it goes deep.
Gocha Stainless Steel Cutting Board
View the productPlastic and stainless steel boards, yes. Wood and bamboo, no — the heat and prolonged water will warp, split or crack them.
Wash it with hot soapy water first, then flood it with a solution of 1 tablespoon unscented bleach per gallon of water, leave it wet a few minutes, rinse and air dry.
About once a month, or any time water stops beading on the surface. Use food-grade mineral oil or board cream, never cooking oil.
Stainless steel, because it is non-porous, cannot be scored into bacteria-holding grooves the way plastic is, and can be sanitised in a dishwasher.
When it has deep knife grooves you cannot clean, when it no longer sits flat, or when wood has cracks or mould that sanding does not remove.