Does Mineral Oil "Dry"?

[Dan Forman]

If wood is full of mineral oil or any other oil, it's job is to displace moisture, so the beasties don't get a foot hold.

What I have heard about this is that UNFINISHED wood tends to kill bacteria by absorbing moisture from them, and that any sort of finish will inhibit this ability, and make it more likely that bacterial can survive and reproduce.

Dan

[Charlie Plesums]

After the legislators declared wood cutting boards unsafe, and required all commercial joints to switch to plastic cutting boards, a University did a study of bacteria on used cutting boards. The found the plastic boards were very unsafe... that the tiny scratches left by the knives were a great incubator for bacteria. The old fashioned wood cutting boards were practically germ free. When I read the study they had not (yet) proved their theory that the moist wood expanded to squeeze the moisture out of the scratches, then dried, killing the bacteria. Whatever the mechanism, the wooden boards were safe, and the plastic boards not only dulled the knives (making them dangerous) but they contaminated the food.

I no longer use my plastic cutting board. I enjoy my wood prep counter and my wooden cutting boards (occasionally treated with mineral oil, or previously with vegetable oil).

[Ray Turney]

I soak my boards in mineral oil overnite in a plastic tub, then wipe off the excess and wrap in a white towel to wick off the excess for about 24hrs. Very little bleeding after this process.

[Corey Wilcox]

Jim,

I tried this method and it worked great. Just the finish I was looking for. Once the wax melted in I let the mixture cool and it formed a soft paste that worked great. Not too greasy, smelled great and I was able to buff the excess off into a nice matte finish. It's hard to say at this point how long a single application will hold up seeing as how it didn't soak in quite as well as pure mineral spirits, but seeing as how I used it on an edge grain board I think with a little maintenance it will be just fine.