Board conditioning
Like any wood product, cutting and serving boards require a finish, to protect them from excessive moisture and completely drying out causing cracking.
For furniture, woodworkers usually use either lacquer, varnish, or shellac. Unfortunately, all those finishes are not food safe. As finish harden, it might chip while using the board causing chemicals end up in your digestive system.
There are other options for cutting boards. However, there are some nuances you should be aware of.
Pick yours on order
Choosing conditioning is a personal decision based on preferences and priorities.
I recommend customers to condition the board with mix formula, based on refined coconut oil and beeswax.
However, during checkout you can choose any method mentioned previously.
Alternatively, you can get your board raw so you can apply your conditioner (or use it as is, accepting tear & wear like splitting or warping - but I do not recommend that. It will significantly reduce lifetime of your board).
Beeswax
Beeswax is a natural product produced by honey bees. It's been used for candle making, waterproofing, sealing, and many other uses for ages.
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Beeswax quality varies - but usually, it's pretty hard. When pure beeswax is used for conditioning, it's traditionally melted and then applied with a rag to the board. Once it hardens, the excess is scraped, leaving only tiny film and board is polished.
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As it leaves a film that fills the pores in the wood, it changes how the board feels in hand. Some describe it as a "warmer" feeling, while others (me including) describe it as somehow plastic. Beeswax fills wood pores, taking away the unique feel of wood in hand.
Another point to consider is that although the beeswax finish might be polished - it's time consuming process. Even if initial film is properly polished, as time goes by, it leaves a hazy look (less vivid colors). Only remedy is to strip original coating and apply and polish new finish.
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The main benefit comes from its natural form - it hardly gets a more natural finish than pure beeswax.
Mineral Oil
Mineral oil is a woodworking industry standard when it comes to cutting board conditioning. FDA recognizes food-safe mineral oils. Mineral oils are used in medicine (for example, as laxatives) and baby oil is just perfumed mineral oil.
Wikipedia describes it as:
"(...)colorless, odorless, light mixtures of higher alkanes from a mineral source, particularly a distillate of petroleum."
When it comes to application, cutting boards are covered with mineral oil and soak to absorb as much as possible. It prevents wood from drying and cracking, brings out the natural wood color and patterns, and adds some water-repelling properties (but not as good as beeswax).
Refined coconut oil
While vegetable oils are generally not recommended for cutting board conditioning - refined, fractionated coconut oil is an exception. The fractionation process allows the separation of fatty acids and leaves only ones does not go rancid - making oil perfectly safe for cutting board conditioning.
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Refined coconut oil have almost the same properties as mineral oil but is all natural and not sourced from petroleum.
Coconut Oil + Beeswax
Another typical conditioner is a paste made of a combination of oil and beeswax. It is a compromise between qualities of both. It gives vivid wood colors while providing advanced water repelling and stain protection from beeswax. And it's easy to apply with a rag (no melting needed).
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Making good conditioner is all about striking the perfect balance. Too much oil and will diminish the benefits of beeswax. On the other hand, too much beeswax (or too hard one) and you will get a hazy look and hard to apply finish.
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After years of experimentation, I came up with formula providing great results. It's base on refined, food-safe, coconut oil and natural beeswax. Boards conditioned with my formula have beautiful colors, are well protected, feels great in hand and can be applied with a rag (no melting needed).
In most cases you will need to apply it only once or twice a month.