This wood butter recipe is easy and incredibly useful. It's also the perfect thing to make and pair with any wood kitchen accessories you're giving for the holidays, from teak bowls to pretty vintage egg cups.
Of course, your own spoons and bowls may be taking a beating during the holidays, so it's probably best to make a batch for yourself too. The butter will seal cracks, add moisture, and quickly make your beloved kitchen tools gleaming and gorgeous again.
Get the recipe at Creative Culinary.
(Image: Creative Culinary)
Apartment Therapy's Sofa Shopping Guide
Nikki’s Sweet and Cheery Print Studio
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
Sprout Side Table
5 Things Paris Taught Me About Travel
Recipe: Ham, Cheddar & Chive Egg Bakes
I generally just use mineral oil. Is there a compelling reason to add wax?
"Wood butter"? Really? Heh heh heh....
@LaureltQ - wax adds a bit of "body" to the mineral oil, so it's a bit thicker & doesn't run everywhere. Also, because the wax is a solid at room temperature, it forms a bit more of a protective layer, and can be buffed to a nicer shine than just the oil alone.
I'm a woodworker, and I use this on wooden spoons and bowls I make, as well as to keep my own kitchen utensils looking great!
Skip the mineral oil (a petroleum product) and use olive oil or coconut oil instead. I made my own using coconut oil and it's amazing stuff. I use it to polish wood products and I also use it as a natural lip balm.
This is the recipe I used: http://www.crunchybetty.com/wonderfully-simple-homemade-wood-polish-recipe
Mineral oil doesn't go rancid, though...... That's why I always use it instead of olive oil.
Just read a bunch online to make sure, and yes, seems like a lot of people are saying no to olive oil and other vegetable oils. They turn rancid and promote bacteria growth, plus they do not protect as well as mineral oil.
Using a veggie oil on it's own is not a good idea - it will go rancid. Heating the oil up and adding it to melted beeswax, however, will allow the polish to last up to a year (or much more, depending on the oil used). I'd still rather use this method than using a petroleum product on wooden utensils.
Hm. You've got me thinking. On one hand, what you describe sounds like a recipe for an attractive, shiny, bacteria-farm. On the other hand, I acknowledge that Mineral Oil is shady stuff.. it's a by-product of making gasoline, after all. I have been reading more today, and I've learned some pros and cons: Pros: The highly refined version of Mineral Oil ("food grade") in small amounts, seems like it"s probably is okay since we've put it on our babies for so long (Baby Oil is Mineral Oil!) and many people ingest it as a laxative, and so far -seemingly- so good. Mineral Oil does a much better job than vegetable oil in rappelling water. It does a much better job in filling the cracks of wood where bacteria would live. Kitchens regularly get exposed to E-Coli, Salmonella, and LIsteria (Listeria is a big food poisioner) and you don't want these guys surviving and breeding. Cons: The less-refined version of Mineral Oil is a carcinogen... which makes you wonder how okay the refined version can really be. Here in the States you can use Mineral Oil as a laxitive, and in some countries it's used in candy manufacturing, but Food Grade Mineral Oil does not exist in Europe. They will not approve it. Also, I read a study from UC Davis that says Salmonela and E-Coli don't actually thrive on wood. They live on the wood for a bit, some live longer if they burrow deeper into cracks, but these bacteria don't re-contaminate very much- not in their tests anyway. So... I don't know what to think now! Thanks, Caralyn! : )