Finish for cutting boards
We don’t rank finishes for food. This page lists what the makers themselves say: which products they name for cutting boards, and which they rule out. Howard names cutting boards for its Cutting Board Oil, a USP mineral oil it says meets 21 CFR 172.878 and 178.3620(a).
Mohawk’s Behlen Salad Bowl Finish cites 21 CFR 175.300 for its ingredients, and its own sheet says it is not intended for cutting boards or cutting blocks. Read the full rules and every maker’s wording on the food-contact page.
Makers who name cutting boards
| 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. |
Makers who rule it out
- Behlen Salad Bowl Finish: Mohawk Finishing Products (Behlen) says not for cutting boards.
These lists come from what each maker writes about its own product, not from our own testing or ranking. A product left off has not been read yet, or its maker does not mention this use.
Related
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.