do you treat your cutting boards?

i bought some pretty cheap ones at ikea and the instructions (yes, flat pieces of wood come with written instructions, but 97-piece bookshelves only give you strange images to work with) recommended treating with a mineral oil every once in a while.

a) do you do this? if so, what do you use?

b) is it worth it? what are the benefits? does it interfere with cleaning (i get paranoid about that stuff)?

i have a wood cutting board that is warped and cracked and i never treated it until recently. i just rub it with olive oil, it looks a little better

I use Claptham's Beeswax Salad Bowl finish, which is a creamy blend of beeswax and food-grade mineral oil. It smells like honey. I use it on my wooden spoons too. Finishing with a wax/oil helps to seal up the pores of the wood, to make it a bit more impervious to liquids and keep odors and stains from soaking in. I think it makes cleanup a little easier b/c you don't have to scrub so much on beet juice and red wine etc - you can still use a bleach solution on it.

nice!
i got a turmeric stain on one of my borads :(

Ooh I'd like to try that beeswax stuff on my wooden spoons. I wonder if something like it's available here.

wow, beeswax and shit, eh? that's some fancy pants!
i just use soap and water everytime and maybe a dilute solution of bleach water every now and again

yeah, I got it to smooth out my bamboo knitting needles and nostepinne initially, but it keeps the wooden kitchen stuff in good nick.

oh snap jaq, time to start an i love knitting board!

or an i love cutting board!

no, that doesn't sound right at all.

hah!

sorry it took me so loooong