Which kind of bowl is it?
It helps to know what you’ve got. All of my bowls are finished with food‑safe Odie’s Oil, so any of them can hold fruit, nuts or bread. Some are turned thin and left with a natural feature — a bark inclusion, a resin fill — and those are best treated as display pieces that can take dry food, rather than working salad bowls.
Bowls used for food
- Wipe rather than wash. Crumbs and dry food need nothing more than a cloth. If something has left a mark, a quick rinse in warm water and an immediate towel‑dry is fine.
- Salad with dressing: tip it out and wipe the bowl as soon as the meal is over. Oil and vinegar left sitting will dry the timber and can stain, so bowls used this way want oiling more often.
- Never soak it, never the dishwasher, never the microwave. The same rules as every wooden thing in the kitchen — heat and standing water are what split a bowl.
- Oil it when it looks pale. A little food‑safe oil on a cloth, rubbed in and buffed off, every few months or whenever the colour looks dull. The oiling guide applies exactly the same way.
Looking for a bowl of your own? See a recent wooden fruit-bowl commission and ask about a shape and size for your table.
Decorative bowls
Dust it. That’s nearly all of it. Once a year, or when the surface looks dry, wipe in a little oil and buff it off. If the bowl has a resin fill or a bark edge, treat those edges gently — don’t pick at them, and don’t use anything abrasive.
The one rule that matters most
Keep it away from heat.
Radiators, wood burners, sunny windowsills and the top of the fridge all dry timber out fast and unevenly. That’s where cracks come from. A shelf or table away from a heat source is all a bowl asks for.
Where to keep it
Somewhere with steady, ordinary room conditions. Central heating in winter is drier than most people realise; if a bowl lives in a very warm room, oil it a little more often. Direct sun will also fade some timbers — cherry in particular changes colour with light, which is part of its charm, but it’s better even than one‑sided.
When the wood moves
Wood is never entirely still. A bowl turned from a whole log may go very slightly oval over its first year, and a hairline check can open at the rim in a dry spell and close again when the weather turns. Neither is a fault — it’s the material being what it is. Oiling slows all of it down, and a bowl that’s kept away from heat rarely does anything you’d notice.
Frequently asked questions
Can you put salad in a wooden bowl?
Yes, if the bowl has a food‑safe finish. Empty and wipe it as soon as the meal is over, and oil it a little more often than a bowl used for dry food.
Why has my wooden bowl gone dull?
It has lost its surface oil — normal with time and cleaning. Rub in a little food‑safe oil, leave it to soak in, and buff it off. The colour and sheen come straight back.
Can I wash a wooden bowl in water?
A quick rinse in warm water is fine; soaking, the dishwasher and hot water are not. Dry it straight away with a towel.
