How to Restore Wooden Kitchen Utensils: Step By Step Guide

Intro:

How do you restore wooden kitchen utensils? Roughly the same way you would restore other wooden products.

The kitchen is a particularly rough environment for wooden products—they are consistently abused with heat, water, and use. The most common sufferers of degradation is the wooden cuttingboard, spatula, and spoon.

For the past few months I have been mistreating one of our Bird's Eye Maple spatulas in my kitchen. I use it for cooking, scraping during cleanup, and have regularly let it sit in water for days at a time. See Image below: The spatula on the left is new, the spatula on the right has been worn out and lost its luster.

Step 1:

First thing is to gather supplies. For rough utensils you will need a clean dry wood item to restore, wood oil or conditioner, very fine sandpaper or a Scotch Brite pad, and a towel to spread the wood oil with.

Fletcher Wood Conditioner used in this guide

Step 2:

Next you will thoroughly rub the Scotch Brite pad or the sandpaper across the entire surface of the wood product. The goal is to knock down and sand away all of the fuzz and damage on the utensil. In our case this step took about 5 minutes to complete. Check your work by running your hand across the wood surface to check for missed spots.

The utensil should feel smooth but a bit dusty at this point. Once you are satisfied with your sanding work it's time to apply wood conditioner. 

Step 3:

Wipe off excess dust from step 2 if necessary. Now simply dab up a healthy amount of wood conditioner onto a paper towel or other soft cloth . Next you will rub the conditioner into the surface of the wooden utensil. 

Step 4:

Be sure to cover the entire utensil liberally and thoroughly. The improvement can be dramatic, as seen in the picture below. As you spread the wood conditioner you will notice it absorb into the wood. Wipe away excess conditioner. It's good for the kitchen utensil to feel a tad bit oily when finished (it will soak into the wood overnight).

Step 5:

Admire your work! Wipe away excess oil as you see fit. Reapplying oil will improve luster and help to maintain your wooden item. Regular application will keep it looking beautiful!

Fletcher Wood Conditioner used in this guide