I will be away from blog duties for a few days, only checking in sporadically. I have a class starting tomorrow that runs for four days. So guess what I was doing today? Cleaning. Here’s one job I’d been putting off and it occurred to me you might need to do that too.
Yes, I was oiling my cutting table. This is something you need to do every so often; laying down lemon oil helps to maintain and lubricate cutting table surfaces. And it smells nice. Can’t speak for your part of the world but it doesn’t seem to matter how much you put on in the Southwest, the table surface always wants more.
You can use what you like but there is an oil sold by suppliers for just this purpose. I think most people buy it by the gallon (I do) but there’s a spray can size available too. Speaking of, I really like the Sprayway products. Nice big cans for a relatively low price. This spray oil is 19 oz for about $6. What a deal.
What is the surface of your cutting table made of? Is it cork?
Not cork. I have the traditional cutting table made by Philocraft. Here’s an earlier entry I wrote about the features of these tables (and why you don’t want to make your own if at all possible). There’s also a video at that link showing a spreader in operation.
Thank you so much for this post. Oiling a cutting table is actually not something I was ever taught to do, but it makes so much sense! May I ask a question? How long does it typically take for the oil to dry/absorb aka when can you go back to using it? Thank you so much! Lara
Hi Lara, hmm, I wouldn’t know but it does soak up fast and within moments there is no residue. This could vary depending on humidity and whether the table has been maintained. I haven’t been doing that and it is dry here. In any event, I would be extremely surprised that if you oiled the table before leaving work in the evening, that it wouldn’t be ready to go by the next morning.
Here in San Francisco, I oil the table in the evening, and it’s dry and ready to use the next morning. My contractor oils her table about twice a year. It’s in great shape, and it’s quite old!
Lemon oil is great for wood furniture too. I have an old butcher block type (not a real bb) kitchen table that looks much better than it should due to the lemon oil.