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Food safe finish

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1.9K views 6 replies 6 participants last post by  bfblack  
#1 ·
I have an oak "cutting" board that I laser engraved a monogram on one side. The customer would really like for me to stain it a little darker. They want to be able to use the other side of the board for food prep or serving so I need to have a food safe finish.

I typically apply Odie's oil for my food safe finish, but don't know if I can use my standard Minwax/Varathane stains with Odies. I see that Odies offers their own pigments for coloring but was wondering what my other options are.

I know everyone says that all finishes are food safe after the curing period, but I wanted to ask the experts here. What about staining and a poly finish? Water based or oil?

Thanks
 
#2 ·
I only use store brand mineral oil with the last coat having a little Beeswax mixed in. I never use poly; that's just plastic coating your work. When that plastic comes off with cutting it may not be harmful but I wouldn't risk it. I also never stain my cutting boards (I've made about 90).
 
#5 ·
Polyurethanes are food safe when cured but would not be my first, second or third choice. After a bit of use the board would look terrible from all the scratches, cuts and all the nooks and crannies would be a bacteria breeding area.

This datasheet has a good list of materials that you can use (US regulation).


My personal choice is mineral oil for cutting boards and tung oil for charcuterie boards. Just be aware that tung oil has to cure for several weeks for it to be food safe.
 
#7 ·
Check out the Wood Whisperer at The Best Food Safe Finish | Spoiler: It’s Not Mineral Oil.
This video prompted me to do my own test comparison on cutting boards. I used mineral oil and Hope's pure tung oil thinned 50/50 with Nature's Orange (citrus based). I rotated the two cutting boards (cherry wood) regularly so they would see roughly the same number of uses over a period of several months. Here is how the two boards look as of 10/26/23.
Image

The tung oil finish shows definite knife cut marks while they are less obvious with the mineral oil finish. For the cutting board areas that have no cut marks, the tung oil offers better water resistance. Both cutting boards need another finish application.
 
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