BLO and cutting boards

[Alan Tolchinsky]

Do you think it's safe to use BLO on cutting boards? I see they use metallic driers in BLO that speeds up drying. BLO was about the only thing I had to put on my board so I went ahead and did it. But then I got to thinking and researched it a bit. That's when I found out about the metallic driers. I could have used some Danish oil which seems to be mostly oil and a solvent. Or is that mostly solvent and some oil? :) Anybody do this and live to tell about it?

[Roger Fitzsimonds]

Hi Al,

I dontr know if BLO is bad for cutting board. I used mineral oil I got at a big box pharmacy. it worked well and I know it is safe


Roger

[Jamie Buxton]

Professionals who have looked at this (e.g. Jeff Jewitt) say that virtually all clear wood finishes are non-toxic after they have dried.

[Jim Becker]

Jamie is correct; all finishes sold today are "safe" once fully cured. That being said, BLO wouldn't be my first choice for a cutting board. Mineral oil or a mineral oil/paraffin mixture (6:1 applied hot and scraped off) is generally the most accepted finish for this kind of item. While you need to reapply the mineral oil periodically, it degrades gracefully in between coatings and is totally neutral even though it never cures into a film.