For decades, the conventional wisdom in professional kitchens was clear: use plastic, not wood. Wood harbours bacteria. Wood is harder to sanitize. Wood is a hygiene risk.
The science says otherwise. And most serious cooks have known this for a while.
The Hygiene Myth
The assumption that plastic is more hygienic than wood was widespread and, for a long time, largely untested. Then researchers at the University of California, Davis, ran the studies.
What they found challenged the accepted wisdom. When bacteria were applied to both wooden and plastic cutting board surfaces, the wood showed a natural ability to draw bacteria down into the grain, where they died and did not multiply. Plastic, by contrast, showed no such effect, bacteria on a plastic surface remained viable for far longer.
More significantly: a used plastic board, one with surface knife marks could not be effectively sanitized by washing. The grooves created by knife cuts harboured bacteria that cleaning did not reach. A used wooden board cleaned by standard methods performed better.
The research conclusion: wood is not less hygienic than plastic. For used boards with knife marks, wood is likely more hygienic.
The Knife Problem
Plastic boards have a harder surface than most wood options and a significantly harder surface than well-chosen hardwoods like teak or walnut. That hardness damages knives.
Every time a blade contacts the cutting surface, a small amount of edge is lost. On a surface that is too hard, plastic, glass, ceramic, or bamboo — that loss happens faster. Knives go dull quickly. They need sharpening more often. Over the lifespan of a good knife, that matters.
Teak, at around 1,070 on the Janka scale, offers enough give that knife edges are preserved rather than degraded. It is one of the reasons professional knife makers and serious home cooks prefer hardwood.
What Chefs Actually Use
Professional kitchens have complex hygiene requirements and use both plastic and wood boards for different purposes, colour-coded plastic boards for allergen separation, wood boards for general prep. But when you ask experienced chefs what they prefer at home, or on the pass in a well-equipped kitchen, the answer is almost always wood.
It performs better. It is kinder to knives. It looks better. And for a food preparation surface used multiple times a day, all of those things matter.
The Environmental Comparison
A plastic cutting board is a single-use product in slow motion. It degrades, stains, and harbours deep knife grooves within a couple of years, at which point it goes to landfill, where it will remain for centuries.
A well-made teak board lasts a decade or more with basic care. It is made from a natural material. When it eventually reaches the end of its life, it biodegrades.
The Honest Recommendation
If you are separating raw meat from other prep and need a dedicated surface for that purpose, a plastic board is a practical tool. Keep it separate, replace it regularly, and use it only for that purpose.
For everything else, the vegetable prep, the bread cutting, the fruit, the herbs, the cheese, a well-made hardwood board is the better choice in every category that matters: hygiene, knife care, durability, and the simple pleasure of working on a beautiful surface.
Every Wooden Decor board is handcrafted from recycled teak in Vietnam. Food-safe finish. Built to last a lifetime.