Oh no, I tried to clean my larch wood cutting board with baking soda and now it’s stained and discoloured. What shall I do?
So here you have it, you regrettably used baking soda while trying to clean your larchwood cutting board. Now your beloved board is stained and discoloured and you are wondering if there is a way to restore it to its full beauty and bring back the original wood colour that you love so much?
Don’t worry, you’re not alone and good news is: it can be fixed!
While using baking soda on cutting boards may be recommended for some woods, it’s definitely a no-no for your larch wood cutting board.
First though and honesty is needed here for your board to live it’s best life – have you been doing regular conditioning? The reason this is important is that a well conditioned board can go through the next steps easy breezy but for a dry board this refresh can cause a different set of problems. So if you haven’t been generous with the conditioner or left it on the board a minimum of 4 hours each application or if your care has been spotty or even if you’re just unsure if your board has a good amount of moisture for the wood fibers, your first step would be to re-season your board.
Seasoning your Larch Wood Cutting Board
Seasoning again is applying the conditioning product to all wood surface areas once a week for a month. You should apply a generous amount in the evening and then allow it to stay on the board over night and buff off (buffing in this instance is simply removing with a soft cloth or paper towel) any conditioner the board has not absorbed in the morning (please note the board should not absorb all product applied during the night – there should always be something to buff off). Then once seasoning is done (so in 1 months time) move to the next steps.
Tackle the baking soda stain
Now that we have a well conditioned board lets tackle the baking soda stain. To do so you need citrus wedges or slices, lemon or grapefruit seem to work the best. Place the citrus over the stained area covering all that you can and then put a bit of weight on top of them to gently press and hold them to the board. Please note: DO NOT use anything cast iron for weighing as there will be a reaction between the wood and the cast iron. Make sure when you do this that you do it during the day when you are around so that you can check on the board. Every 1-2 hours take a look at the board and how the staining is doing. If at any check the board looks good remove the citrus. You can do this for a max of 8 hours during the day if the stain has not been removed in that time take the citrus off.
Give the board a wash with a gentle dish soap and water let it air dry and when dry leave it until the next day and repeat at that time the citrus slices/wedges, again checking on the board every 1-2 hours. This will remove staining and you may find that where the citrus was, the board will have a lighter wood tone which is perfectly natural. Over time (give it about a month or two) the fibers will patina again so that it all gets that rich wood tone look.
Conditioning again when all stains have been removed
When you are all done and the stain is gone give the board a conditioning that evening again. The reason for this is that even though the citrus has liquid it is a acidic liquid and this basically strips the fibers of protection and in a natural manner bleaches the wood fibers so you want to protect those fibers again with conditioning care (side note: please NEVER use an actual bleach on our Larch Wood boards, bleach is not good for them). Then go to your maintaining care routine which would be once a month conditioning of the board.
Related Posts:
End Grain Cutting boards: 10 tips for conditioning your board to last a lifetime
Food Stains on Your End Grain Cutting Board
Recommended Products: Larch Wood Conditioner
Cutting Board Conditioner – Original
Cutting Board Conditioner – Larch Wood Green