Do cutting boards need to be oiled?

It depends on the material. Wood and bamboo cutting boards are porous and are commonly oiled to keep them from drying and splitting, but the plastic and titanium boards compared in this site’s Best Cutting Boards for Plastic and Titanium Sets guide are published by their makers as needing no oil at all.

The reason comes down to what the surface is made of. Oil soaks into open wood grain and fills it, which is why a wooden board is treated periodically. Plastic and metal surfaces do not absorb oil in the same way, so there is nothing for the oil to do. The sections below cover what each maker in the guide states about care, and where a maker publishes nothing on the subject.

Why wood and bamboo boards are oiled

A wood or bamboo board is made of fibers with open pores. When those pores dry out, the board can cup, crack or split along the grain, and a split board traps food and moisture in places you cannot scrub. Oil fills the pores and slows the movement of water in and out of the wood, which is the whole point of the routine.

This site has not compared a wood or bamboo cutting board in the guide cited here, so no wood board appears on the fact sheet and no oiling interval or quantity is published for one. The general practice is well known, but the specific figures belong to makers this site has not compared. Treat any exact schedule you read elsewhere as that maker’s instruction, not a universal rule.

What follows from the material is simple: if the board absorbs water, it will absorb oil, and if it absorbs oil it can be maintained with oil. If the board does not absorb water, oiling has no job to do. That single test sorts most boards before you read a single care label.

Plastic boards: no oiling published

The plastic sets in the guide are published as closed-surface products. GORILLA GRIP states directly that its boards need “no oiling or special maintenance required,” and describes the surface as nonporous, with the further note that the plastic helps prevent liquid and odor absorption. That is the clearest statement on the question among the picks.

The other plastic sets are described in the same direction without using the word oil. THETCHRY calls its boards food-grade plastic with a surface tough enough to withstand chopping, slicing and dicing, and states they can go in the dishwasher. Empune calls its boards high-density plastic that will not leave stains. Neither maker publishes an oiling step, and neither publishes a weight figure beyond what appears on the fact sheet.

For sizing context on the plastic picks: the GORILLA GRIP set lists a largest board of 16 x 11.2 in, a medium of 13.8 x 9.6 in and a small of 11.8 x 8 in, each .37 in thick, with a combined weight of 4.25 lbs. The Empune extra large board is published at 17.0 x 11.8 x 0.4 in. The THETCHRY set lists a large board of 15 x 10 in. None of these figures changes the care answer, but they show the range of plastic boards the guide covers.

Titanium boards: rinse, do not oil

The titanium picks are published as nonporous metal surfaces. Sumzzz states that the titanium surface has a non-porous structure that helps reduce absorption of liquids, odors and stains, and that both sides can be rinsed clean with water after use. Pexucalm states that the titanium side has natural non-stick properties so grease and meat juices rinse off, and that a quick wipe with a dishcloth is enough.

Neither titanium maker publishes an oiling instruction, and oiling a nonporous metal surface would leave a film that the next rinse has to remove. The Pexucalm board pairs the titanium face with a wheat straw PP side, and the maker’s care note for that side is a prompt rinse after prepping, not an oil treatment. The Sumzzz board is published at 16 x 11 in with a built-in juice groove and garlic grinding area.

One point worth stating plainly: this site has not compared a titanium board’s edge retention or scratch behavior, and the makers publish no figures for either. What the makers do publish is the surface description and the cleaning method, and both point away from oil.

What to do instead of oiling

For the boards in the guide, the published care is washing, not conditioning. THETCHRY states its boards are BPA-free and can go directly into the dishwasher, or be washed by hand with soap. Empune states its boards can be rinsed with warm water or put in the dishwasher. GORILLA GRIP states its boards are dishwasher safe and that the material resists wear and tear.

Drying matters more than oiling on these surfaces. The Sumzzz board has a built-in hanging hole for drying and storage, and the THETCHRY boards have a triangular handle that lets them hang. Letting a board dry on edge or on a hook keeps water from sitting under it, which is the practical concern for a nonporous board.

If you own a wood or bamboo board alongside these, keep the two routines separate. Oil the wood, and wash and dry the plastic and titanium. Do not apply a wood treatment to a plastic or titanium board on the theory that it cannot hurt. On a nonporous surface it simply sits there until you wash it off.

What this means when you choose a board

If you do not want a maintenance routine, the guide’s plastic and titanium picks are published as needing none. GORILLA GRIP says so outright, and the other makers describe closed or nonporous surfaces with wash-only care. That is the whole of the claim: no oiling step is published, and the surfaces are described as not absorbing liquids.

If you want a board you oil, none of the five picks in this guide is that board. This site has not compared a wood or bamboo board, so it publishes no figures for one and makes no recommendation between the two categories. The choice is a material choice first and a care choice second.

Where a maker publishes nothing, this page says so rather than filling the gap. THETCHRY, Empune, Sumzzz and Pexucalm publish no oiling instruction and no oiling interval, and this site has not compared their boards in use. The absence is scoped to oiling: the makers do publish cleaning methods, sizes and, for some picks, weights, and those figures appear above.