How to Disinfect a Cutting Board Without Using Bleach
Introduction: Why Ditch the Bleach?
For many of us, cutting boards are an essential kitchen tool, used to prepare everything from fresh veggies to raw meat. But keeping them sanitized and safe for food prep can be a challenge, especially if you're trying to avoid harsh chemicals like bleach. Traditional disinfectants may get the job done, but they often leave behind toxic residues that are harmful to your health, the environment, and your food. Fortunately, you don’t need bleach to keep your cutting board clean—eco-conscious, non-toxic solutions can deliver the same results without the harsh side effects.
In this post, we’ll walk you through how to effectively disinfect a cutting board with sustainable, eco-friendly solutions. Whether it’s wood, plastic, or bamboo, we’ve got practical, easy-to-follow steps to help you clean your board without compromising safety or the planet.
The Risks of Using Bleach in Your Kitchen
Though bleach is known for its disinfecting power, it’s not without its risks. According to the Environmental Working Group (EWG), bleach releases toxic fumes that can irritate the skin, eyes, and respiratory system. More concerningly, residual bleach on kitchen surfaces can linger and potentially contaminate food, posing health risks to your family.
If you're striving to reduce toxins in your home, there's good news—there are non-toxic, sustainable alternatives that offer powerful cleaning without sacrificing your health or the environment. And you likely already have some of them in your home!
Tools and Ingredients for Non-Toxic Cutting Board Cleaning
- MamaSuds All-Purpose Cleaner – a non-toxic, plant-based formula that effectively breaks down grease, grime, and surface bacteria.
- MamaSuds Extra Strength Oxygen Powder – a natural stain remover and deodorizer that tackles tough bacteria.
- White vinegar or hydrogen peroxide – excellent natural disinfectants.
- Lemon – a natural antibacterial agent with a fresh scent.
- Baking soda – gentle on surfaces and effective at removing stains.
- A scrub brush or sponge.
Step-by-Step Guide: How to Clean and Disinfect Cutting Boards
Step 1: Rinse Off Residue Immediately After Use
Begin by rinsing the cutting board with hot water right after use. This prevents bacteria from settling into the board, especially after cutting raw meat or seafood. A quick rinse makes the following steps more effective.
Step 2: Scrub with MamaSuds All-Purpose Cleaner
Spray MamaSuds All-Purpose Cleaner generously over the surface of the cutting board. This non-toxic formula cuts through grease and food residue without leaving harmful chemicals behind. Use a scrub brush or sponge to thoroughly clean both sides of the board.
Pro tip: Use a different cutting board for meat and veggies to avoid cross-contamination.
Step 3: Deodorize and Sanitize with MamaSuds Extra Strength Oxygen Powder
Mix a tablespoon of MamaSuds Extra Strength Oxygen Powder with warm water to create a powerful cleaning paste. Apply it to any stained or smelly areas of the cutting board. Let the paste sit for 10-15 minutes to allow the oxygenated formula to lift stains and neutralize odors naturally.
Step 4: Disinfect with Vinegar or Hydrogen Peroxide
Vinegar and hydrogen peroxide are both effective natural disinfectants. Spray your cutting board with one of these options and let it air-dry. If you prefer to skip vinegar's strong scent, hydrogen peroxide offers the same antibacterial benefits without the lingering odor.
Important: Avoid letting vinegar or hydrogen peroxide sit on wooden boards for too long, as it can degrade the wood over time.
Step 5: Use Lemon for a Fresh Finish
For an extra antibacterial boost (and a fresh scent), rub half a lemon over the surface of the board. This simple step adds another layer of cleaning and leaves your board smelling citrusy-fresh. Lemon juice also helps remove lingering stains.
Step 6: Let the Board Dry Completely
Always allow your cutting board to air-dry thoroughly. Bacteria thrive in moist environments, so propping the board upright to ensure both sides dry is essential. For wooden boards, consider applying a light coat of food-grade oil to prevent cracks and keep the wood hydrated.
The Importance of Eco-Friendly Cleaning Practices
Cleaning without harsh chemicals isn’t just better for your health—it’s better for the environment, too. According to the American Lung Association, many conventional cleaning products, including bleach, release harmful volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that contribute to indoor air pollution. Choosing non-toxic alternatives like MamaSuds ensures your home stays safe while minimizing your carbon footprint.
Additionally, every small eco-friendly swap adds up. By opting for plant-based products, like MamaSuds All-Purpose Cleaner, you’re making a sustainable choice that supports a healthier planet—and teaching your kids the importance of conscious consumption.
Why Choose MamaSuds for a Cleaner, Greener Home?
When it comes to green home solutions, MamaSuds products are designed to meet the highest standards. They are free from sulfates, phthalates, and other harmful chemicals, ensuring your family stays safe. Whether it’s cutting boards, countertops, or laundry, MamaSuds makes it easy to maintain a toxin-free home.
Clean Smarter, Not Harder
Ready to ditch the bleach and embrace non-toxic cleaning? Shop MamaSuds All-Purpose Cleaner and Extra Strength Oxygen Powder today and discover the power of sustainable cleaning solutions. Use these products not only on your cutting boards but also throughout your home to maintain a clean, healthy, and eco-friendly space.
Take the first step toward a safer home with MamaSuds—because what you use to clean matters.
5 Essential Oils That are Great for Green Cleaning
Sometimes it can be hard to find the time that you need to give your home a good, thorough cleaning.
It can be a slow, sometimes tedious process and we often like to resort to the easiest methods possible to get it done as quickly as possible.
It’s hard to fault anyone for doing this, but the problem with the easiest route is that it does tend to be the least healthy one.
It’s a lot more convenient to tackle your house using all of the common store-bought cleaning products. And that stuff is packed with chemicals and ambiguous ingredients.
And the same applies to washing your clothes, cleaning dishes and spraying scented substances to enhance the aroma of your house.
You never know what kind of potentially harmful material you are releasing into the air when you clean like that. It’s detrimental to your health and the environment.
Green cleaning is the way to go. And with the right blends of essential oils, you can put together your own cleaning products that are way more healthy.
Here’s five essential oils that are great for green cleaning:
- Lavender
People have been using lavender for a lot of different reasons for many, many years now. It’s one of the most popular essential oils.
It’s good for your skin and hair, and it’s also good for fighting against nausea as well as things like the common cold.
It works against these because it’s antibacterial and antiviral. This makes it a great choice for cleaning your bathroom or your kitchen.
You want to use it in places where bacteria is prone to build up and also where people eat. If you mix it in a spray bottle with water and white vinegar it makes a great cleaning solution.
It’s also useful as an insect repellent as well as an air freshener that you can spray around your house.
- Peppermint
Much like lavender, peppermint is a popular way to deal with headaches and nausea, but many people don’t realize that it’s also a powerful disinfectant.
It makes for a great surface cleaner. If you mix this with some vinegar and water in a spray bottle you can use it to clean countertops.
You’ve probably noticed by this stage that vinegar, white vinegar specifically is something that you will need to have for a lot of these blends.
I know that the smell of vinegar isn’t necessarily popular but it’s useful in cleaning solutions and the oils will usually mask the smell anyway.
You can also use this particular mixture to clean the floors too. If you mix it with water in your mop bucket it should do the trick.
- Lemon
Lemon is a terrific oil for cleaning around the house because it’s got antibacterial properties but is also a low pH.
It won’t do any damage to your surfaces but is still effective in killing bacteria and disinfecting things.
Lemon is actually something that you could use to clean all of your appliances, and also ceiling fans and trash cans.
You could clean the microwave with it by just microwaving a cup filled with water and lemon oil and then wiping down the inside of the machine.
And if you want to treat the dishwasher with it, mix distilled vinegar with a few drops of lemon oil and place it in an empty dishwasher.
These are notoriously hard to clean but lemon oil gets the job done with minimal hassle.
- Eucalyptus
This is yet another oil that has antifungal, antiviral and antibacterial properties so you can use it in a lot of the ways that you can the others we discussed.
But it’s also very good at getting rid of grease and grime. Areas like the oven top, the kitchen sink and the microwave are places where this could be a problem.
Mix eucalyptus with water and, you guessed it, white vinegar in a spray bottle and then use that on these surfaces to get rid of all that grease.
It’s a good way to remove adhesive too so if there is any sticky residue stuck to countertops or windows then the eucalyptus mix will deal with that.
And on top of all that it’s good for keeping away pests and dust mites.
- Tea Tree
We can sing the praises of tea tree oil all day. It doesn’t smell particularly strong, it’s minimally invasive in terms of leaving stains or causing damage and there’s many uses.
You can use it to put together a multi-purpose, disinfectant cleaning spray which you can use on pretty much any surface.
And it makes for a very strong bathroom scrub because it’s a natural mold fighter. So it would also be great for cleaning the kitchen sink too.
Because it’s a disinfectant, you could put it to good use cleaning things like yoga mats or other pieces of exercise equipment too.
Conclusion
Put the days of letting all of those nasty fumes pollute your home and your body behind you. Give green cleaning a try, you won’t regret it.
If you want to find out more about green cleaning and how to implement it into your routine, check out this article from Groom & Style.