Cutting board oil and bowl finishes
Howard’s Cutting Board Oil is plain mineral oil: Howard says it is 100 % USP mineral oil meeting the requirements of 21 CFR 172.878, the federal rule for white mineral oil in food, and 21 CFR 178.3620(a), which covers it in things that touch food.
A bowl finish is different: Behlen Salad Bowl Finish is a film finish that Mohawk says contains FDA-regulated ingredients complying with 21 CFR 175.300, and its own sheet says it is not intended for cutting boards or cutting blocks. It needs 72 hours to cure before use. These are the makers’ statements; we add no claim of our own.
Board oils and bowl finishes, by their makers
Board oils and bowl finishes: recoat across makers
Only one maker’s sheet so far, so no class value: see its own figure below.
Board oils and bowl finishes: coverage across makers
No maker we read prints a coverage.
| Product | Touch-dry | Recoat | Use | Full cure | Coverage | Thinning and notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Howard Cutting Board Oil One source: Howard Products, the maker of that product | — | — | — | — | — | 100 % USP mineral oil, for the first oiling of cutting boards and butcher blocks. |
| Behlen Salad Bowl Finish One source: Mohawk Finishing Products (Behlen), the maker of that product | — | 6 h | 72 huse with food (rub out after 24 hours) | — | — | Conditions: 72 °F, 35 % RH.A film finish for bowls, utensils and butcher blocks; wash before contact with food. |
Work it out for your project
Times are the makers' own at the temperature and humidity they name, and several of them say cooler, damper conditions slow their finishes. For how much to buy, the finish coverage calculator uses these same coverage figures. Every finish side by side: the finish dry time chart. What the federal rules say about finishes and food: food-contact finishes.
Elsewhere in finishing: shellac and the shellac cut calculator; for repairs before the finish, wood filler vs wood putty; and for the glue-up, wood glue types.