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A few months ago I showed you how to quickly clean up your wooden kitchen tools with a swipe of olive oil. At the time I promised to show you a better, (and more time consuming) way of doing it.
Now is that time.
When I say time consuming I mean this takes 5 minutes compared to the 1 minute the olive oil treatment takes. So … we’re not exactly talking about the sort of time commitment that you have to fret about.
I wrote that whole sentence based on wanting to use the word “fret”. Just so there’s no secrets between us.
This is the first in a series of posts I’m doing that feature DIY $10 or less Christmas present ideas. There will be several more to come over the next month all of which can easily be accessed by the fancy new button on the right side bar. See? That button over there to the right.
Back to the Board butter. This wood conditioner contains all of 2 ingredients both of which are relatively easy to get.
Beeswax and Mineral Oil.
I ordered beeswax ages ago to make candles with (which I never did) so I had that on hand, and I had Mineral Oil in the cupboard for conditioning my antique butcher block (which is now relegated to the basement), so I had that on hand. 1 lb of beeswax cost me $9 and a bottle of Mineral Oil is around the same.
I ordered my beeswax off of a candle making supply store but you can get it at craft stores, from local beekeepers and truthfully, this concoction doesn’t take a LOT of beeswax so if you have stumps of old, 100% pure beeswax candles, you can use those. Mineral Oil can be bought at any hardware or drug store.
As Brenda Watts (the woodworker from Cattails Studio who I pilfered this recipe off of) says … the hardest part is shaving off the beeswax. I would like to add shoving it up your nose. More specifically, NOT shoving it up your nose is the hardest part of making this.
It smells really good.
What with being made from bee vomit and all.
Shave off 2 ½ ounces of Beeswax
Melt the Beeswax in a double boiler over medium heat.
Add 1 ½ cups of Mineral Oil. Heat and Stir for 5 minutes or so.
Pour into small metal containers.
I had vintage metal tobacco tins so that’s what I put mine in.
You can also use nice little metal tins like these which I found on
Etsy but you can find similar round ones almost anywhere.
Before
After
Just scoop some out with your fingers and rub it all over your wood … that’s what she said … and leave it for an hour or even overnight. Once it’s soaked in, buff it with a soft cloth.
The total cost of a 2 ounce tin would be around fifty cents, not including the container and makes a GREAT quick homemade gift. Anything that smells this good will be appreciated by anyone with nostrils.
To turn this into a $10 gift, just add in a couple of wooden spoons, or a vintage rolling pin and nice tea towel and tie it all up with string.
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Nikki F.
For interesting tins and containers you can also try American Science & Surplus. I love their descriptions too.
http://www.sciplus.com/category.cfm/subsection/7
Lisa
I live near the store. It blows my mind to go in there, and I can poke around for hours.
Simon
I recently discovered a fellow in England who has made a life carving spoons from wood that he has collected himself. Fascinating fellow. He has a shop in London and carves spoons 8 hours a day. http://barnthespoon.blogspot.com
I will make this butter for my spoons. Thank you
Karen
Hah! Now off to look at Spoonman. ~ karen
Mary
Okay, since you asked, I’ll share my recipe.
I buy my beeswax from the source, but I have to filter it since it’s full of little bees legs and crap. I melt it over a double boiler and then strain through panty hose. Next, I pour it into an ice cube tray and let harden. Then I have all these neat little ice cube shapes of beautiful beeswax. When I need to make “board butter” (I make boards so I need this stuff), I just take one little cube of beeswax and add 4 “cubes” of mineral oil (measured in the ice cube tray). That way, I have a wax that is 1/5 beeswax and 4/5 mineral oil. I melt that together over a double boiler, pour into a container(s) and there you have it. Want lip balm? Substiture coconut oil for the mineral oil and you’ll have the best lipbalm (cuticle cream, cracked heal cream) on the planet.
mimiindublin
Magic! A beautiful, useful and handmade gift: that’s the perfect Christmas gift.
I love how your button is exactly opposite the part of your post that tell us about it!
Karen
Was it?! O.K., that was totally a fluke, LOL. ~ karen
Bonnie
So, to confirm, we will be hand-buffing wood? Hmmm…..
Laura Bee
A butcher block in the basement is usually a tip off that there’s a killer in the house.
sherri
could you give a bit more information on the mineral oil, please!! more specifically if they are carcinogenic and toxic when used with food preparation.
Karen
Sherri – No. They’re fine. Just use Food Grade Mineral Oil. To tell you the truth, all instructions say to make sure you use “Food Grade Mineral Oil”, but I’ve never seen anything BUT Food Grade Mineral Oil for sale. I’m sure they sell the other stuff somewhere, just not anywhere I shop apparently. ~ karen!
Brenda Watts
Sherri,
I have made this using sunflower oil in place of the mineral oil if that causes you concern…..there will be folks who say that it will go rancid, however I have never heard of that happening EVER and I have used lots of it.
If I was just making some for my own use or to give to friends and that is what I had in the cupboard I would use it in a heartbeat.
Great post K..don’t you just love how wonderful everything feels and SMELLS.
Karen
Yes. YES I DO! It’s astonishingly good. ~ karen!
Mary Kay
Hi Karen, Is this ok to use on your cutting boards too? I have a fairly large board and have used mineral oil but was wondering if this might be better?
Karen
Absolutely perfect for cutting boards! ~ karen
Cindy Marlow
This is a great idea but the best idea is your new button linking to ALL the ideas (I wrote this sentence specifically so I could use the word ‘idea’ numerous times).
You are making the holidays too easy!
SIDEBAR…unfortunately, those of us who took your Christmas pledge won’t be able to incorporate all your ideas which are coming in over the next month because we will be all done with our holiday shenanigans.
cred
Mmmm! this sounds good. I still have a tin of beeswax wood conditioner that I bought for my butcherblock counter to use up before I can make my own- but that stuff is the same, it’s smells so good. I rub it into my hands when I’m done buffing (mine is food grade so it’s safe for skin)
The $10 diy gift idea is great and I love that button- cute & convenient!
Diana
Hi Karen,
I`ve got a great wooden table. Do you think it could work with it too???
Laura
Once again, you turn normal mundane living into something to look forward to & feel proud of! Time to gather the wooden utensils. I was saving my bees vomit to make eye/lip/eyebrow cream, but there is plenty to go around.
Dawna Jones
Karen what a great gift idea! I love this one,and who wouldn’t love a gift like that!
http://www.dawnajonesdesign.com/
Patty Stone Ramirez
This would be great for polishing my mahogany sideboard and dining table. Great idea!
Nancy Blue Moon
Great!! I have a ton of beeswax I bought at a yard sale for real cheap..My vintage rolling pins are looking a tad dry so this should work well for them..I wrote that sentence just so I could use the word TAD..It’s such a cute little word isnt it?? TAD..
qtpuh2tme
LUV having easy-peasy ideas like this one! Thanks! ~:0)
Evalyn
Just went to the Americna Science and Surplus site – it gives you the option of viewing a photo or a hand-drawing of each item. I love it!
Chau
Karen, I have bamboo cutting board and cooking utensils. Do you thinkthis will work on them? I have used mineral oil on the cutting board but it won’t stick/absorb. Thanks.
Karen
Hmm. I don’t know. Technically mineral oil is what you should use on bamboo. Have you tried letting the mineral oil sit over night to absorb? If you try that and it does work (you’ll probably have excess to wipe off in the morning still) this should work too. ~ karen!
Sue W
May I please have your double boiler? Please? Its the cutest thing I ever did see.
Lara
Digging on the 10 buck gift direct button to the right! Needed it, love it, keep the good stuff coming, Karen.
Karen
Thx! I figured it’d come in handy for a lot of people. With these $10 gifts, it’s all in the packaging too. The nicer it’s packaged, the nicer it seems. ~ karen!
BGrigg
Beeswax and mineral oil are much better than olive oil, which can go rancid on your wooden spoons and make things taste funny.
Go ahead, ask me how I know.
Leena
I made this. And it worked like a wonder. Thanks for the recipe.
Lavada
I didn’t see this mentioned and I am unfamiliar with the difficulty or not, as the case may be of shaving bee’s wax. . .couldn’t you use a grater for the bee’s wax. Of course, if you have to worry about “bee legs and crap” like Mary, it might not be a great idea. Just a thought.
BTW – been reading you for years now. I told my sister I wanted a neighbor like you. And — shhh, keep this on the downlow, I’m willing to move all but three of my neighbors if you’d like to relocate to my neighborhood. I’m just saying. . .
Karen
Thanks Lavada. I’ll need to bring the chickens of course and the cats and the fella and the roving band of unicorns that mill about my front lawn. If that’s O.K., I’m in. ~ karen
Heather
Karen, I made this using your amounts, but my board butter won’t set. I reheated and added more wax, and this time it set — sort of. Still really soft and oily. I am currently reheating it for the second time with again, more wax. The only thing I can think of is that the bottle of oil I bought says 100% mineral oil in the ingredients, but it does say “light mineral oil” on the label. Is that different than what I was supposed to use?
Karen
Hi Heather! It sounds like it’s probably right. The board butter is supposed to be the consistency of very soft butter. Not like hard butter. And it will be oily. The main ingredient is the mineral oil as opposed to the beeswax. I think you did it right! Try some on a piece of dry wood. It should soak in with a little bit that can be wiped off later. (leave it as long as overnight) ~ karen!
Heather
I should have been clearer – when I say it won’t set, I mean it’s still liquid – in other words, pourable. I don’t think it’s supposed to be pourable?
Karen
Oh dear lord. No. It definitely shouldn’t be pourable! The only thing I can think of is you’re correct in thinking you may have the wrong kind of mineral oil OR you have used too much mineral oil to beeswax (because you have “light” mineral oil). If you have enough materials, try again with a much smaller amount of mineral oil to beeswax ratio. Try not to use too much so you don’t use up all your stuff. Once you get the ratio right you can do a larger batch. Or .. you could just run out and get a bottle of regular mineral oil if you can find it tomorrow.
~ karen