4 ms·

I'm pretty sure wood is terrible for this purpose. Note how in hospitals wood is nonexistent.

by 21 8y ago

anateus 8y ago
It may be absent, but tests on food prep surfaces show wood performs surprisingly well. Better than plastic.
- lmkg 8y ago
  From what I remember, wood's main difference is that is absorbs water. On the one hand, this wicks water away from the surface making it dryer immediately (bad for pathogens), but on the other hand it retains moisture for longer (good for pathogens). These trade-offs are overall beneficial for the use case of a cutting board, but that may be a very narrow set of conditions. This is aside from the fact that hospitals are a more adversarial environment than kitchens--every sneeze might contain ebola, and every patient might be immunocomprimised. I would imagine airports fall somewhere in the middle.
wahern 8y ago
Plastic and steel are common because they're easy to clean reliably. The problem is that the properties that make them easy to clean--smooth, inert--are the same properties that allow pathogens to linger. Microsurfaces on, e.g., hardwood have properties that sequester and kill pathogens. (https://news.ncsu.edu/2014/09/cutting-boards-food-safety/ https://news.ncsu.edu/2014/09/cutting-boards-food-safety/) However, that can also make them more difficult to clean, particularly in a commercial or industrial setting where the process needs to be low-cost, minimally labor intensive, scaleable, and reliable. Similarly, the surface properties may be difficult to maintain or restore. For example, perhaps oil build up on wood surfaces regularly touched by passers-by reduces or eliminates the antimicrobial qualities, or even make it worse than the alternatives. That's the rub--how to design (and market) cheap hardware that is easy to maintain while maximizing antiseptic properties during use. We've optimized for the former (cheap, easy, reliable sanitation) but neglected to appreciate that actual cleanliness sucks because typical materials in high-traffic areas go from pristine to cesspools almost immediately and, crucially, stay that way until the next round of cleaning briefly sanitizes the surface.
- Fomite 8y ago
  It's also got to withstand those disinfectants. My guess is wood likely also degrades faster.
  - sandworm101 8y ago
    What kills wood is a changing environment. Keep it dry and it lasts forever. Keep is wet and it lasts forever. Let is cycle between wet and dry every hour, it last a week.

I'm pretty sure wood is terrible for this purpose. Note how in hospitals wood is nonexistent.

by 21 8y ago

I'm pretty sure wood is terrible for this purpose. Note how in hospitals wood is nonexistent.

anateus 8y ago

It may be absent, but tests on food prep surfaces show wood performs surprisingly well. Better than plastic.

lmkg 8y ago
From what I remember, wood's main difference is that is absorbs water. On the one hand, this wicks water away from the surface making it dryer immediately (bad for pathogens), but on the other hand it retains moisture for longer (good for pathogens). These trade-offs are overall beneficial for the use case of a cutting board, but that may be a very narrow set of conditions. This is aside from the fact that hospitals are a more adversarial environment than kitchens--every sneeze might contain ebola, and every patient might be immunocomprimised. I would imagine airports fall somewhere in the middle.

wahern 8y ago

Plastic and steel are common because they're easy to clean reliably. The problem is that the properties that make them easy to clean--smooth, inert--are the same properties that allow pathogens to linger. Microsurfaces on, e.g., hardwood have properties that sequester and kill pathogens. (https://news.ncsu.edu/2014/09/cutting-boards-food-safety/ https://news.ncsu.edu/2014/09/cutting-boards-food-safety/) However, that can also make them more difficult to clean, particularly in a commercial or industrial setting where the process needs to be low-cost, minimally labor intensive, scaleable, and reliable. Similarly, the surface properties may be difficult to maintain or restore. For example, perhaps oil build up on wood surfaces regularly touched by passers-by reduces or eliminates the antimicrobial qualities, or even make it worse than the alternatives. That's the rub--how to design (and market) cheap hardware that is easy to maintain while maximizing antiseptic properties during use. We've optimized for the former (cheap, easy, reliable sanitation) but neglected to appreciate that actual cleanliness sucks because typical materials in high-traffic areas go from pristine to cesspools almost immediately and, crucially, stay that way until the next round of cleaning briefly sanitizes the surface.

Fomite 8y ago
It's also got to withstand those disinfectants. My guess is wood likely also degrades faster.
- sandworm101 8y ago
  What kills wood is a changing environment. Keep it dry and it lasts forever. Keep is wet and it lasts forever. Let is cycle between wet and dry every hour, it last a week.