Almost every wooden board that fails does so for one of two reasons, and both are preventable with information the recipient never received.

Reason one: it went in the dishwasher

A dishwasher combines prolonged soaking with high heat, which swells the wood and then dries it fast and unevenly. That differential is what splits a board along a glue line or across the grain.

Hand wash, both sides, and stand the board on edge to dry rather than leaving it flat on a counter where one face dries and the other does not.

Reason two: it was never oiled

Wood loses moisture continuously in a heated home. Food-safe mineral oil replaces it and keeps the board dimensionally stable; a board that is never oiled will eventually cup, then crack.

Monthly for the first year, then whenever the surface looks dry and pale. It takes two minutes and it is the single highest-value thing an owner can do.

Which oil, and which to avoid

Food-grade mineral oil, or a mineral oil and beeswax board cream. Both are inert and will not go rancid.

Avoid cooking oils — olive, vegetable, sunflower. They are organic and they oxidise, which is to say they go rancid inside the wood and the board starts to smell. This is the most common well-intentioned mistake.

Cleaning without soaking

Hot water, mild soap, a cloth or brush, and dry immediately. Never leave a board sitting in a sink.

For odours and light staining, coarse salt with half a lemon scrubbed over the surface works genuinely well and costs nothing. For sanitising after raw work on a wooden board — use a poly board instead.

Bringing a tired board back

Sand lightly with 220 grit along the grain, wipe clean, then oil generously and let it soak overnight. Most boards written off as ruined come back completely.

Engraving survives light sanding because it is burned some depth into the wood, which is one more argument against surface printing.

What to put on the care card

Four lines: hand wash and dry immediately, never dishwasher, oil monthly with food-grade mineral oil, stand on edge to dry. That is the whole thing.

We print and include one with every board as standard, because the alternative is a customer blaming your brand for a crack that a sentence would have prevented.