Use mild dish soap and warm water to clean a well-seasoned wooden bowl.
Always dry the bowl thoroughly after cleaning.

Never put bowl in dishwasher, microwave or let it soak in water, as it will warp and crack.

Yes - I finish the wood with food and toy safe products.

For regular wood bowl cleaning use warm water with mild dishwashing soap and lightly scrub the bowl surface with a soft non-abrasive sponge or cloth.

Rinse the bowl thoroughly in clean, warm water and hand dry with an absorbent towel.

No - A microwave heats at a molecular level and can heat the internal wood cells inside the bowl walls.

Large swings and uneven distribution of heat in wood can create movement, which can result in cracks.

No - the dishwasher uses extreme heat to clean dishes and will damage a wood bowl.

Not to mention the harm caused by the dishwasher spraying and bombarding the bowl with water for an extended period.

No - Abrasive or rough textured dish scrubbers can scratch the surface of a wooden bowl. Use the softer sponge surfaced cleaners only or a soft washcloth. 

Wood is a living breathing thing, even in bowl form. Harsh chemicals on the wood surface can be absorbed into the wood and potentially damage the finish and the wood. Mild dish soap works best.

A well-used wood bowl can acquire a build-up of dirt and debris over time, especially if it is not cleaned and seasoned regularly.

If your bowl has food stains or getting a bit smelly, it’s time to do a deeper cleaning.

You need to attack the bacteria that is causing the stains and odors to remove the issue.

Here are two ways to kill that bacteria and restore a clean bowl.

1. Cut a lemon in half and rub lemon juice over the entire bowl surface.
2. Another option is to use white vinegar mixed at a ratio of 1 part vinegar to 5 parts water. Wipe this solution over the entire bowl.

After you use the lemon or vinegar deep cleaning method, let the bowl sit for a minute or two and then rinse the bowl thoroughly in warm water. Use the soap cleaning method above to clean the entire bowl.

Wood contains natural oils as well as finishing oils. It’s easy to tell if a wood bowl needs oil. A wood bowl will look dry and dull if it needs oil.

To get a wood bowl looking fresh and new again, you need to season the wood surface with an oil that will soak into the wood cells. Food safe mineral Oil is a good choice and walnut oil and coconut oil are also available to revitalize your wood bowls, cutting boards, and other wood products.

Seasoning a wood bowl is a process used to protect the bowl’s surface and maintain its luster. Seasoning makes bowls last much longer.

Spalting is the process by which certain fungi grow on dead or fallen trees and, after colonising the wood via travelling up the wood cells from the ends or from broken off branches,  leave a most attractive pattern. The process takes 2 to 3 years to reach the ideal stage to cut & season the timber.

Spalted Beach Bowl

The black lines are zone lines created by different species of fungi erecting barriers around their territory! There are primary colonizers who come first and establish territories and then have to defend them against secondary colonizers who are only able to colonize the wood because the primary colonizers have changed the ph of the wood & its structure.  A microscopic army!  If left unchecked eventually the whole tree is eaten & consumed, part of nature’s process of dealing with dead & fallen trees.