this post was submitted on 01 Jan 2026
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I've only used plastic so far. A friend was moving and she gave me her wooden cutting board. I cut something with it, and some grease got on the cutting board. Now I can't remove the yellow spot no matter what I do. What can I do to clean it?

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[–] XTL@sopuli.xyz 36 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (2 children)

I'm guessing it wasn't (well) oiled. Oiled boards are fairly easy to clean and nothing will soak into them as long as they're cleaned after using.

Might come off with scraping and oiling, so treat the board again. Otherwise the spot is not going to be harmful in any way and cutting boards get marked over time in any case.

[–] cabbage@piefed.social 7 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

Maybe fighting fire with fire and setting the whole board with olive oil now would help at least hide the spot. Beyond that, only time and use helps in my experience.

[–] dusty_raven@discuss.online 30 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Olive oil can go rancid and add off flavor to food. Use mineral oil instead. Some people also go with distilled coconut oil, but I still think mineral oil is the best choice.

[–] Atelopus-zeteki@fedia.io 3 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Ack! No petroleum products on my cutting boards! I've used walnut oil for years, as I was told it's the only food grade oil that dries, and doesn't go rancid. I have a lot of cutting boards, wooden utensils, bowls, a few "plates" or "plowls". And I live in a dry climate, so they get oiled up about once a year. I just did the bowls, and wow do they look great!

[–] JohnnyEnzyme@piefed.social 15 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Not an expert here, but food-grade mineral oil is safe for cutting surfaces from every source I've read. It's even commonly used as a laxative.

Meanwhile, from what I gather, walnut oil has a comparatively long shelf life, but it does eventually go rancid, leaving an off smell. But it may be that yearly oiling makes that a relatively moot point, with the new covering the old.

[–] fishy@lemmy.today 3 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Mineral oil is definitely safe, just try not to inhale misted particles in large amounts regularly. Pouring some on your cutting board and rubbing it in should be totally safe.

[–] JohnnyEnzyme@piefed.social 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Huh. So in what context would there be misted mineral oil in the air? Like in a factory or workshop..?

[–] fishy@lemmy.today 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)
[–] JohnnyEnzyme@piefed.social 1 points 1 week ago

Oh, okay. Guess I'll have to avoid making chili in those places, then.

[–] untorquer@lemmy.world 6 points 1 week ago

Should fade over time with regular oiling and washing

[–] jerkface@lemmy.ca 20 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Live with it. Who cares? Many tools develop marks of wear or even a patina. Try appreciate the aesthetic. I love it when my tools have unique weathering.

[–] core@leminal.space 18 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

Add more grease so the whole board is the same color

[–] Fluffy_Ruffs@lemmy.world 10 points 1 week ago (1 children)

It's not recommended to use any fat that can go rancid. Mineral oil is usually the way to go.

[–] ExtremeUnicorn@feddit.org 3 points 1 week ago

"Rancid" is not really a clearly defined term.

As long as you use tung oil, hemp oil, linseed oil or perilla oil, they will harden to a solid finish.

They will become "rancid", but then polymerize and dry after some weeks to a month. Hemp and linseed oil may need some UV light and airflow, so you'd have to keep it by the window.

Just don't use olive oil or other cooking oils, they will just go bad.

Mineral oil will not go bad, but it rubs and washes off with time, so needs to be reapplied constantly.

[–] cattywampas@lemmy.world 9 points 1 week ago

Lots of great comments here but one more awesome thing about wooden cutting boards - you can always sand off a very fine layer to expose new wood if the surface gets too gnarly. Then oil it and use it like usual again.

[–] turdburglar@piefed.social 8 points 1 week ago (2 children)

get you some mineral oil and beeswax. 2/1 ratio. heat them in a saucepan on low heat until combined. pour the mixture into a shallow vessel - empty tuna cans work great. allow the mixture to solidify. use a dry clean cloth to apply the paste to cutting board. let it sit for an hour and then wipe off the excess.

repeat once a month-ish or when the wood starts to lighten.

[–] rothaine@lemmy.zip 8 points 1 week ago (2 children)

How to get mineral oil and beeswax out of a saucepan

[–] turdburglar@piefed.social 2 points 1 week ago

the mineral oil makes the beeswax into a soft paste. it wipes out of the pot quite easily.

[–] Atelopus-zeteki@fedia.io -4 points 1 week ago (2 children)

lol, good luck. also please no petroleum products on wooden kitchenware. smh

[–] Canonical_Warlock@lemmy.dbzer0.com 18 points 1 week ago (2 children)

There is literal food grade mineral oil for this exact purpose along with lubricating food making equipment. It's basically completely inert and is sometimes even used as a food ingredient. You can straight up drink a jug of the stuff with no health repercussions other than the violent greasy shits you would get from drinking any oil. Just because it's a petroleum product doesn't automatically mean its bad for you.

[–] Fluffy_Ruffs@lemmy.world 5 points 1 week ago (1 children)

You had me at "violent greasy shits"

[–] turdburglar@piefed.social 6 points 1 week ago

mineral oil is sold at the pharmacy as a laxitive. so yeah, violent greasy shits.

it’s also cheaper to buy at the pharmacy than it is to buy at the woodworking shops as a finish. same stuff tho.

[–] Atelopus-zeteki@fedia.io -1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Can you cite any research, not sponsored by the petroleum industry, that relates to this opinion? Walnut oil is a food product, is made from walnuts, doesn't go rancid, and works quite well for maintenance of cutting boards and other wooden kitchen ware.

[–] turdburglar@piefed.social 3 points 1 week ago (1 children)

walnut oil is lovely. it doesn’t penetrate the wood as deeply as the mineral oil + beeswax tho.

[–] Atelopus-zeteki@fedia.io -1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Have you any actual data, you know, like a study of depth of penetration of your petroleum based product compared with other wood finishes?

[–] turdburglar@piefed.social 3 points 6 days ago

i witnessed its effects on the woods that i’ve applied it to. i’m a woodworker, not a scientist or academic paper reader/writer.

i’m not sure why it’s now MY petroleum product tho, that’s a weird and aggressive way to ask your (i think rhetorical) question.

doing in fact, when it comes down to it MY preferred finish is actually shellac, but it doesn’t perform well in kitchen applications.

[–] turdburglar@piefed.social 6 points 1 week ago (1 children)

i mean, ok. but as an actual woodworker, my knowledge base shows mineral oil to be a standard food grade treatment for wooden kitchen implements.

[–] Atelopus-zeteki@fedia.io 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

And as an actual woodworker, what does your knowledge base have to say about walnut oil?

[–] ExtremeUnicorn@feddit.org 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Not the person you asked, but I recently did some finish tests with natural drying oils.

Besides tung oil, linseed oil, hemp oil and perilla oil, the wallnut oil dried the slowest by far (talking weeks of difference) and needs added airflow and UV light to make anything happen (tung oil and perilla oil even dry out in the dark).

Besides, there's the slight chance of an undried pocket coming into contact with someone who is allergic.

In my opinion, not worth it with those great alternatives.

I might have used "bad" walnut oil, I had only one sample, but it was unprocessed, organic walnut oil, the expensive stuff. Maybe you need to use the refined, cheap oil to get better results for woodworking.

[–] Atelopus-zeteki@fedia.io 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

My experience is different. Dries in a day, or less. Shrug. I'll keep using walnut, works just fine for my kitchen ware. I've used tung and linseed oil for furniture.

[–] ExtremeUnicorn@feddit.org 1 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Are you maybe using some kind of processed oil with dryers?

Because I haven't been able to get any natural oil to dry faster than maybe a couple of days to a week. That was on pieces of foil sitting in the sunlight with constant airflow.

So inside of a workpiece, I would assume it will even take much longer than that.

[–] turdburglar@piefed.social 1 points 6 days ago

i’m not sure what yall are calling “dry” but generally when applying penetrating oil finishes, one applies a generous amount to the wood, waits a given amount of time, usually a 20 minutes to an hour, and then wipes off the excess. then you flip the rag over and wipe it again. then again. ultimately you want the rag to come back clean and then you’re done.

that’s pretty much it. it’s as dry as it needs to be to be before buffing, waxing, or buffing and waxing the surface.

if you’re waiting days for the oils to dry, it seems likely to me that you’re leaving way too much oil on the wood.

[–] ODGreen@lemmy.ca 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

You can also get pre-mixed stuff if all that is a hassle.

I got a wooden cutting board and a tube each of oil and some stuff that seals it, those have lasted for 8 years now maybe.

[–] turdburglar@piefed.social 5 points 1 week ago (1 children)

well i’m a woodworker, and as such i relish a good hassle.

[–] ODGreen@lemmy.ca 3 points 1 week ago

Understandable, I also do things the difficult way in my hobbies.

[–] blimthepixie@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 points 1 week ago

Turn it over 

[–] slothrop@lemmy.ca 6 points 1 week ago

Sprinkle with salt, cut a lemon in half, and scour the board. Leave for a few hours, rinse and wash with dish soap.
Repeat as necessary, and every few weeks.

[–] communism@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I would just keep it as is. But yeah, sounds like your board wasn't oiled properly. Rub some mineral oil into it and leave to dry.

[–] ExtremeUnicorn@feddit.org 1 points 1 week ago

Just to clarify, mineral oil will never dry. It's food-safe, but it will rub off just the same and wash out eventually.

[–] deHaga@feddit.uk 1 points 1 week ago