Caring for Engraved Wood So That It Lasts

Wood is not difficult to look after. It is just alive enough to care how you treat it. Almost everything that goes wrong with an engraved piece comes down to one of two things: too much water, or too little oil.

Boards that get used

If you cook on it, treat it like a good knife rather than like crockery.

• Hand wash, always. Warm water, a little dish soap, a cloth or a soft brush. A dishwasher will do more damage in one cycle than a year of daily use.
• Dry it immediately, and stand it on edge so air reaches both faces. A board left flat on a wet counter cups.
• Never leave it standing in water, and never soak it. Water gets into the end grain, swells it, and the board splits as it dries.
• Oil it every few weeks — more often at first, less once it has settled. Food-safe mineral oil or a board conditioner with beeswax. Apply a generous coat, leave it an hour, wipe the excess off.

The engraving itself needs nothing special. It is burnt into the wood, not printed on it, so it will not wash off or fade with use. What oiling does is keep the wood around it from drying pale and the engraving from looking chalky by comparison.

Stains and smells

Coarse salt and half a lemon, scrubbed over the surface and rinsed off, removes most stains and almost all smells. For a board that has been used hard, a light sand with fine paper followed by a fresh coat of oil brings it back — sand with the grain, and stay off the engraved area.

Wall pieces and ornaments

Layered mandalas, door hangers and photo engravings need almost nothing. Keep them out of direct, constant sunlight, which will lighten one side of a piece over a few years, and away from a radiator or a wood stove, which will dry it out.

Dust with a dry, soft brush — a clean paintbrush is ideal for getting between the layers of a mandala. Do not use a damp cloth on a multi-layer piece; water collects in the joints.

If something goes wrong

Wood moves. If a piece arrives damaged, or if something happens that does not look like normal wear, send us a photograph. We made it, we know what it should look like, and we would rather fix it than have it sit in a cupboard.