# New Boos Cutting Board gets "fuzzy" after Wash & Dry



## cavemancook (Feb 18, 2012)

Hi Friends-

I recently received a nice, new, maple, edge grain Boos board #RA03.  (I know most here prefer end grain but this is a gift from my wife.)  I oiled it well with mineral oil prior to first use, as I do all wood cooking tools.

The board was very smooth and became smoother after oiling.  However, after I washed, rinsed and dried it, the board became really rough.  I know wood grain raises with water but I've not had other boards or tools do this.  I oiled the board thoroughly again but it remains rough much unlike other boards I've owned.

Any thoughts?  Is this what I should expect?  Are your boards rough or smooth (before & after oiling)?

Any help is greatly appreciated.  Thank you.


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## the boardsmith (Jun 24, 2009)

Completely normal.  There are some wood fibers that were folded down during the sanding process and water will raise them up no matter how much oil you apply.  Once they wear off, the board will stay smoother.


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## crext (Mar 25, 2013)

Sorry to bring up an old thread,

This has happened to me today.  I've been using a -20 year old hand me down maple board until it cracked 3/4 of the way across.  I purchased 2 maple Boos and oiled and waxed them.  After first use and wash, one board felt fuzzy.  Since the previous board was a hand me down, I've never experienced it before.  Makes sense tho.
 

Will the wear of the fuzzy grains be promoted by more washing/oiling or cutting?  Or am I just neurotic and not worry at all?


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## michaelga (Jan 30, 2012)

Just give them a light sanding with a very-fine piece of sand paper.  Then re-oil them.

They should be smooth and not fuzzy feeling.


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## jake t bud (Feb 25, 2013)

I used to work in a wood shop. When trying to repair dinged up final wood for finishing, we would place a wet towel on the dent and use a hot iron. The steam gets inside the wood cells and expands (as long as the wood fibers were not damaged or cut), and inflates the dent.  All you have to do is sand it to flatten out the grains, then finish as desired. End grain doesn't have this problem because of the direction of the grain - on other words, it expands sideways, not lengthwise. Not to say that you can't ding up end grain. You can.

I've never heard of wood grain folded down during sanding. Sanding uses fine edges to remove material. If it was poor quality wood or sanded while wet with a heavy grit sand paper, then it frays the wood fibers or tears them. Folding? Never heard of such a thing.

As Michael says, just use sandpaper until smooth, and oil.


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## foodpump (Oct 10, 2005)

Or a card scraper with a wicked sharp burr on it.......


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## the boardsmith (Jun 24, 2009)

I have been a woodworker for 51 years and know a little about wood and how it behaves.  I will state again, the fuzzy feeling the OP felt is from water/moisture raising the wood fibers.  The instructions on how to raise a dent in wood is correct and will work on edge grain, face grain and end grain equally well.  But it has nothing to do with the fuzzy feeling felt after washing. 

The OP can sand to their hearts content and all that will be accomplished is much clogged sandpaper and the board will still get back to the fuzzy feeling after the first washing.  You can use a scraper to your hearts content but a scraper requires a bit of experience to use or the corners will produce gouges and scars which will be hard to remove and if not used evenly will result in an uneven surface which is not very good for cutting on. 

The wood fibers that make up the fuzzy feeling surface will eventually wear off and the board will feel smoother but not as smooth as it did when new.  Just a fact of life, moisture raises wood grain and will always do so.  Really, nothing much to worry about.


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## mikelm (Dec 23, 2000)

b-SMITH:

I've been a woodworker for few years myself, and I understand your remarks about steaming out dents... except that you say it works on _end_ grain. How does this work? Does the moisture cause the dented fibers to straighten out, which they would have to do to reduce an end-grain dent?

Thanks,

Mike /img/vbsmilies/smilies/confused.gif


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## jake t bud (Feb 25, 2013)

MikeLM said:


> b-SMITH:
> 
> I've been a woodworker for few years myself, and I understand your remarks about steaming out dents... except that you say it works on _end_ grain. How does this work? Does the moisture cause the dented fibers to straighten out, which they would have to do to reduce an end-grain dent?
> 
> ...


See my post above. It works on end grain but not as well because endgrain has a tendency to tear when dented.


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## the boardsmith (Jun 24, 2009)

I stand on my experience, steaming a dent out of wood works equally as well for face, edge or end grain.  I've had dented end grain boards in the shop that had the dents steamed out so well you could almost not tell there was a dent there unless you had seen it prior.  I haven't seen any tearing in end grain boards when dented.


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## toxicant (Sep 14, 2012)

I've made a bunch of cutting boards and always wet sand them. Once I get done with the board I'll sand it dry to 400 grit. Then I'll wet the board and allow it to dry, you will feel the grain raised at this point. Sand once again with 400 grit and then wet the board again. At this point I will take some wet/dry sand paper and sand the board again in the kitchen sink using water. Start with 400, next use some 600, then 800 and finish with 1000.

Go to an auto parts store or hardware store and buy those 4 sheets of paper and a sanding block of you don't have a wooden block and your boards will be very smooth. Wash out the paper when done and dry, they will do quite a few boards before they are worn out.


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