Furniture Care - Gilly's Food Safe Range

Wondering how to preserve and protect your chopping boards, children's toys and furniture without toxic or synthetic ingredients? Our food safe range of timber finishes are perfect for you and the little ones in your house. Rich, quality ingredients blended to create goodness for your bamboo and wood.

Chopping Board Oils

Our trio of nourishing oils are ideal for all timber and bamboo utensils in the kitchen setting. Easy to use; a little goes a long way and they all smell lovely. The Orange variety smells like freshly-picked oranges thanks to the sweet orange essential oil in the formula. The Lemon variety combines a gentle citrus with a sharp and complex lemon fragrance from the May Chang essential oil (extracted from the berries of the litsea cubeba tree). The Citrus Beeswax variety has a gentle citrus scent with a hint of our beautiful Western Australian beeswax – world renowned for its purity.

These can be either brushed or wiped on with a lint free cloth (we love our Bamboo Polishing Cloths). The drier your board, the more oil will be drawn deeply into the fibres, helping to protect from cracking and splitting. Once the timber/bamboo is fully saturated with the oil, a water repellent surface is created. You will need to re-apply from time to time, particularly if the board is cleaned in a dishwasher.

The effect of the oils is usually how the wood appears when it is wet. So, a little darker with all of the depth and detail of the grain accentuated. Once the fibres look pale or dry, it's time to re-apply.

The Chopping Board Oils are available in 100ml bottles but also in larger sizes, depending on the variety (250mL, 1L, 2L or 4L).

Food Safe Wax

This is our 'icing on the cake', designed to be used over the oils. Freshly sanded timber is very porous, so will soak up any oil that sits on the surface. This is why we recommend using the oils first. To add a more robust protection for scratches and a sheen if well buffed, the Food Safe Wax is an excellent way to seal in the protection of the oil.

Many of our customers who make chopping boards and platters love the Food Safe Wax for retail presentation. If buffed vigorously, it can impart a lovely sheen.

Of course, it contains all natural ingredients that are food grade. This polish has a lovely, gentle citrus smell from the solvent we use (made from crushed orange peels) to keep the wax soft in the tin. Once the wax is applied with a soft, lint-free cloth, the solvent evaporates leaving the protective waxes, which dry smooth and hard.

Because the formulation is so rich, a common mistake is to over-apply. As with all of Gilly's products, a little goes a long way. For waxes in particular, it's always better to layer up very fine coats rather than trying to use just the one thick coat. The waxes need a chance to dry properly, which is helped by the circular action and a very fine coat. The liquid components of the formula need to evaporate during application.

The Food Safe Wax is available in 100mL, 200mL, 1L and 2L sizes.

Whilst we do use all natural ingredients, the beeswax and for some, citrus solvent, can cause allergic reactions.