Cutting board food safety issue

On Oct 16, 2018, MJ wrote
(in article<[email protected]>):

> Last year, I bought some small cutting boards from a friend. I took them home
> and sanded them and then used mineral spirits to clean them up. I knew it was
> wrong and I've not distributed them as gifts as I intended last year. Just
> wondering, how do I "fix" them to make sure that my friends and family don't
> get sick.
>
> I was thinking of resending, then flooding them with mineral oil, letting
> them try and then doing it again.
>
> Any hints would be helpful.

Heat the board up with a paint-stripping heat gun, and boil the mineral
spirits off.

This can be done as a part of the process of saturating the wood surface with
mineral oil, on say a butcher block countertop: Cover the wood surface with
heavy mineral oil from a drugstore (this oil is edible). Heat oiled surface
with the heat gun. Add oil as needed to keep the surface uniformly wet. The
oil will appear to boil as water is boiled off and air is expelled by the
heat. When the oil begins to smoke, stop and allow things to cool. The
surface oil will be drawn into the wood grain. One can repeat the process
once or twice to ensure full saturation of the surface.

I did this 17 years ago in my kitchen. Still holding up.

Joe Gwinn

On 10/16/2018 11:56 AM, MJ wrote:
> Last year, I bought some small cutting boards from a friend. I took them home and sanded them and then used mineral spirits to clean them up. I knew it was wrong and I've not distributed them as gifts as I intended last year. Just wondering, how do I "fix" them to make sure that my friends and family don't get sick.
>
> I was thinking of resending, then flooding them with mineral oil, letting them try and then doing it again.
>
> Any hints would be helpful.
>
> MJ
>

Mineral spirits will evaporate off and "should" not be an issue. Most
any non lead finish is safe once it cures.

On Tue, 16 Oct 2018 09:56:13 -0700 (PDT), MJ <[email protected]>
wrote:

>Last year, I bought some small cutting boards from a friend.
> I took them home and sanded them and then used mineral spirits to clean them up.
> I knew it was wrong and I've not distributed them as gifts as I intended last year.
>Just wondering, how do I "fix" them to make sure that my friends and family don't get sick.
>I was thinking of resending, then flooding them with mineral oil, letting them try and then doing it again.
>Any hints would be helpful.
>MJ


I'd say let your nose be your guide ... if you can smell any
mineral spirit odor - not good for food prep.
Sand down and use a proper finish.

http://www.leevalley.com/en/Wood/page.aspx?p=20049&cat=1,190,42942

http://www.leevalley.com/en/Wood/page.aspx?p=20056&cat=1,190,42942

Click on the " Instr." and " Tech." links
below the general product description for additional useful details.

John T.

On 10/16/2018 12:19 PM, Leon wrote:
> On 10/16/2018 11:56 AM, MJ wrote:
>> Last year, I bought some small cutting boards from a friend. I took
>> them home and sanded them and then used mineral spirits to clean them
>> up. I knew it was wrong and I've not distributed them as gifts as I
>> intended last year. Just wondering, how do I "fix" them to make sure
>> that my friends and family don't get sick.
>>
>> I was thinking of resending, then flooding them with mineral oil,
>> letting them try and then doing it again.
>>
>> Any hints would be helpful.
>>
>> MJ
>>
>
> Mineral spirits will evaporate off and "should" not be an issue.  Most
> any non lead finish is safe once it cures.

+1

By this time there's nothing volatile left from a year ago; what is most
suitable depends on what you envision they could/would be used for given
the size as to whether are likely to be actually used as a cutting board
or something else based on the "small" description.

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