Thursday, January 14, 2010

Give your wooden spoons and knives new life

I'm finally back from the holidays (and a weird photobucket snafu) and wanted to share one of the things I did a couple weeks ago. If you own wooden spoons, knives with wooden handles or any other kitchen implement made of wood, chances are you throw it in the dishwasher from time to time. Everyday use and heat from dishwashers will eventually strip the oils from the wood making it dry and brittle and susceptible to cracking or breaking. Upon one of my favorite wooden spoons snapping in half, I was reminded that I hadn't oiled my spoons in a while. So, that's what I did!

To do this, get your hands on some mineral oil.
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Put liberal amounts of the mineral oil on a paper towel or other rag, and rub it into your utensil.
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You can sort of see before and after with the knives below.
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Giving your wooden kitchen implements doesn't take long, and it will extend their life. It also leaves your hands really soft!

1 comment:

  1. Oh boy! I enforced, with much emotional trauma to all involved, a RULE that nothing wooden ever went in the dishwasher, or got left in a sink full of water. Those boys learned that this was a crime only slightly below taking the kitchen knives outside to cut trees and fenceposts. As a result, I have decent spoons and knife handles! In fact, I can attest that after 40 years the knife handles have a permanently oiled patina! (I don't think they wash their knives with care, but success only goes so far, eh?)

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