Proper Care for Your Wooden Bowls

Keep your bowls looking great for many years to come. The Great Alaskan Bowl Company, based in Fairbanks, Alaska, offers important tips on how to maintain the look and condition of your beautiful wooden bowls. Through proper care, your wooden bowls will develop a warm, rich patina and become family heirlooms that members of your family will treasure for generations. Contact us to learn more about cleaning and maintaining your wooden bowls and how to prevent them from getting damaged.

THE CARE & KEEPING OF YOUR BOWLS

Every tree, like every fingerprint, is unique. Each has a grain pattern and coloration that reflects its own particular species, age, native soil, and growing conditions. Each bowl reflects its own unique character as well as that of the tree that gave it life. Your bowls can last for generations with just a little care and conditioning.

BE GOOD TO YOUR WOOD

A little care goes a long way toward maintaining your wooden bowls, cutting boards, and utensils. Get to know your wood! Being organic, wooden items require a little more care than metal or plastic. A properly cared-for bowl may be used for soup, pasta, ice cream, or salad without staining or cracking. Store your bowls in a dry, cool area and oil them occasionally or when they begin to "feel dry". Hand wash them in warm, soapy water using a mild soap. Rinse and dry them thoroughly, and then oil them lightly if needed. We recommend a good quality, food-grade block oil. Be aware that vegetable-based oils can become rancid if rubbed into your bowl, and can negatively affect the color, taste, and smell of your bowl.

SEASON YOUR BOWLS

Each bowl has been hand dipped in block oil, the final step in its manufacturing process, to protect it from cracking and staining. We suggest that before using your new bowl, you season it by hand, rubbing it with a good quality block oil. This should be done daily over five to six days before any food contact, allowing for the oil to soak into the wood. This will help prevent staining while keeping your bowl from drying out and cracking, allowing years of enjoyable use.

PLEASE NOTE

Never soak your bowl in water or leave it in the sink where water may splash into it and stand. Likewise, never put it in the dishwasher, microwave, or conventional oven as this subjects it to extreme heat and moisture, both of which can cause significant damage.

INDIVIDUAL BOWL CARE & INFORMATION

Laser Engraved Bowls & Boards should have special care to maintain their engraving. To limit fading, keep out of direct sunlight and limit washing of laser engraving. While the image itself will slowly lighten over time, the engraving itself will last the life of the product.

Photo Bowls, Burl Bowl Sets, & Original Art Bowls are lacquered either on the outside of the bowl, or both the inside and the outside. This is to product the laser engraved image, the original artwork, or (with burl bowls), to feature the beauty of the woodgrain. Please not that this lacquer is not food safe and owls with the lacquer on the inside should only be used for display. If a bowl is lacquered on the exterior and oiled on the inside; it can be used for food and oiled on the inside as needed. Please keep these items out of direct sunlight to product their photo engravings and artwork, and limit fading.

Knotty but Nice Bowls include a greater amount of burling and grain twisting in the wood offering deep rich tones and grain patterns. Knots found in these bowls are the result of the cross section cutting of a branch which was growing out of the standing tree. While you may have to avoid their use for pastas or salads due to the knot, these are still wonderful vessels for a wide variety of dry goods including: rolls, popcorn, fruit, nuts, and potpourri.