How to Take Proper Care of your Wooden Kitchen Items?

Making your kitchen look and feel classy with stunning wooden items is easy. And, so is cleaning and maintaining them for a long life. Here’s all you need to know.

A well-equipped, organised and sparkling clean kitchen speaks volumes about your efficiency and eye for detail as a homeowner. If you are passionate about adorning your home and kitchen in particular with classy, easy to use, and eco-friendly utensils and accessories, then buying wooden kitchen items is the best choice.

Advantages of Using Wooden Kitchen Items

For those who prefer using wooden kitchen items over plastic and steel, there are ample stunning yet affordable options on the Woodsala website to choose from. You will be spoiled for choice with the wide range of exquisitely designed, high-quality teak wood rolling pins, bowls, glasses, spoons, coasters, grinders, spatulas, trays, chopping boards, and so on. If you are not sure about choosing wood over plastic and fibre products for kitchen use, then here’s why you must choose wood:

1. Environment-friendly: Wood is the most eco-friendly material for kitchen items. Since these are used for food handling, wood is the safest and most hygienic option too. Being highly absorbent, it deters any microbial growth on its surface. Storing or eating food or beverages in plastic containers is not recommended due to health hazards in the long run.
2. Non-scratching: Using wooden spatulas and spoons, as opposed to stainless steel, will ensure that your non-stick cookware remains unblemished.
3. Non-conductivity of heat: Since wood is a bad conductor of heat, you don’t have to worry about the spatula or glass heating up when you are handling hot food or beverages.
4. Durable: As long as you use the correct methods for cleaning and maintaining wooden kitchen items, they will last really long. Needless to say, these are shatter-proof as opposed to glass or crystal.
5. Non-reactivity: Being chemically inert is a big advantage of using wooden accessories in the kitchen. Both plastic and metal tend to leech into acidic or hot food but wood remains non-reactive.
6. Aesthetic: The classy appeal of premium teak wood kitchen items is incomparable with that of any other material.

How to Clean and Maintain your Wooden Kitchen Items?

1. Hand-washing with warm water, mild liquid dish-wash, and a gentle sponge is highly recommended if you want your wooden kitchen items to last long. Machine washing or using abrasive scrub pads will scratch their delicate surface and reduce durability.
2. Wood tends to absorb liquids and odours. If there is a stain that you want to remove or an unpleasant smell that you want to get rid of, try rubbing it gently with some coarse rock salt and a wedge of lemon. This is especially useful for dairy/meat/fish stains and odours.
3. For tougher stains such as that from cheese, wine, or cooked food, use baking soda and lemon similar to the process above. Be it rock salt and lemon, or baking soda and lemon, you need to leave it on for some time to absorb the stain and odour. Always rub till the salt or sods dissolves, and leave it on for a couple of minutes before rinsing it off.
4. In case there are permanent stains that you wish to get rid of from your old wooden kitchenware, it is a good idea to use sandpaper for gentle scrubbing. The abrasive strength of the sandpaper should be mild to medium, and this should be followed immediately by coating a thin layer of edible oil on the scrubbed area to retain the sheen and finish.
5. To ensure that your wooden kitchenware looks elegant and as-good-as-new at all times, periodic oiling is necessary. Leave on a thin coat of cooking oil such as mustard oil, peanut oil, or sesame oil overnight. Wipe carefully in the morning if required. Since wood is extremely absorbent, oiling keeps the wood grains on the surface from drying and cracking up.
6. Wood requires good drying and airing. Dampness and inadequate ventilation is the biggest deterrent to the durability of wooden kitchenware. After washing, always wipe them with a clean cotton towel and leave them out to dry instead of storing them inside the cupboard.

Conclusion

If you begin shopping for kitchen items online, you will find an avalanche of sub-standard products thrown right at you. Mass-produced plastic kitchen items and accessories are the worst in terms of quality, aesthetics, durability, and functionality. On the contrary, well-crafted wooden kitchen items not only add to the grandeur of your home décor but also stand apart in terms of ergonomics and utility value. With the above cleaning and maintenance to-dos, you can ensure that your wooden kitchen items last long and give you optimal value for money.