Rehabber’s Rehab

About a month ago I found an awsome salad bowl at a garage sale for $1 that looked just like one a friend had that I had long admired.  It was a little rough looking, a couple of stains and scratched up, it wasn’t bad looking, and I figured those could easily be sanded out.  As with most things that you buy with the intention of making it a project, the salad bowl has now sat in the basement for 2 months waiting for me to get around to refinishing it.

The friend whose salad bowl I originally envied has since broken hers, and has been desperately looking for another one like it since.  It’s her birthday today, so I am going to refinish the bowl and give it to her.  Although I am giving up the best salad bowl ever, for very little money and 20 minutes of effort I know I am giving her a gift she will absolutely love, and will have no idea I didn’t buy it new.

How to refinish a wooden salad bowl:

1. Sanding. The bowl is a little nicked up and has some spots on it, so with a medium grade sanding block (Love these.  So much easier to hold that just plain sand paper), sand with the wood grain to get the scratches and stains off.  Then sand again with fine grain sand paper.
2. Clean off the sawdust. With a slightly damp rag, clean the sawdust off the bowl.  By wetting it, you will also see if there are any spots you missed or that might need to be sanded more.  This will also begin to open the wood’s pores. Repeat step one and then do step two again.
3. Rub with mineral oil. Rub the bowl with mineral oil.  Some people use olive oil, but it is believed food based oil will go rancid over time.  Best to stick with odorless mineral oil that you can buy at any drug store.
4. Heat the oven to 150. Turn on oven to 150 degrees and then turned it off.  Place the bowl in the oven and allow to cool.  The heat will open the pores and allow the mineral oil to be absorbed.  As the bowl cools, the pores will close sealing the bowl.  Wipe off excess oil when you’re done
5. Admire.

Caring for your wooden salad bowls is the same as with a new cutting board, apply oil once a day for a week, once a week for a month, and then about once a month as long as you own it. Wipe the oil down well immediately after applying, every time.

Don’t stain or polyurethane your salad bowl.  If you want something a little heartier than just oil, Behlan’s makes a finish listed as food safe called ‘Salad bowl finish’.