Beeswax or oil for your cutting board: what is the difference?

Oil soaks into the wood and nourishes it from the inside. Beeswax stays on the surface, seals the pores and keeps moisture out. So you always need oil, and beeswax is the extra layer on top: oil first, then wax.

Oil and beeswax are often mentioned in the same breath, but they do different things. It is not a choice between one or the other. The question is mainly when oil alone is enough and when wax adds something.

What oil does

Wood dries out through washing and use. Oil fills the pores and keeps the wood supple, so that it cracks or warps less quickly. Our care oil is pure grapeseed oil with nothing added. It is thin, odourless and food safe. Twice a month you apply 20 ml with a cloth, leave it to soak in for 4 hours and wipe off whatever is still on the surface.

What beeswax does

Beeswax does not soak in deeply. It lays a thin film on the wood that seals the pores. As a result, water stays on the board in drops. Wax does not replace the oil: on dry wood you only lock in the dryness. That is why wax always comes after the oil.

Oil and beeswax side by side

When do you use which?

• Oil alone is enough for a board you use every day for bread and vegetables.
• Oil and wax is handy if your board often gets wet, for example with meat, juicy fruit or a lot of washing.
• Wax alone is something we do not recommend. The wood underneath then stays dry.

Wax block or spreadable beeswax

We have two kinds, both from Dutch bees and food safe. The wax block is pure beeswax with a single ingredient. You rub it straight onto the clean, dry wood, along the grain. You do not need a cloth, although you can buff it afterwards for the final finish. The spreadable beeswax comes in a 50 gram aluminium tin. You apply it thinly with a soft cloth and it lasts for dozens of treatments.

If you want to have both at home, the care duo is the logical choice: oil with beeswax or with a wax block.