Wooden mugs are a great addition to your kitchen cup collection, as they look and feel unique and are very special to look at.
Here Is 5 Ways To Check That Your Wooden Mug Is Food Safe By Sealing:
It is good to always know how to check that your wooden mug is ok for consumption, and that it is safe to drink from. The best ways to do this is to check that it is sealed on the inside, check the type of sealer that has been used on the mug, check the brand and the sealant they used, and lastly the type of wood used for the mug.
We will be discussing this more in depth throughout the article, which I am sure you will find helpful with your new or existing mug that you have.
How to Check that Wooden Mugs are Safe to Drink Out Of
The Wooden Mug is Sealed on the Inside
Though it is a strong and sturdy material, wood still needs to be sealed by applying an extra product to help protect it.
For a wooden mug, this is essential because you’ll be using it to consume a variety of hot and cold drinks, plus washing out the mug after use. You must ensure that your mug has a good sealing finish on it if you don’t want it to start falling apart or looking shabby from continual use.
Products are labelled with their finish, so it’s easy to check if a wooden mug has a finish on it or not. Some people prefer to craft and finish wooden products themselves, but it is very easy to seal wood with natural substances, like oils.
If your wooden mug has been sealed inside, you know that it is safe to drink from because it will be smooth and solid, preventing any splintering bits of wood from ending up in your drink.
Too much liquid can erode wood and wear it down, which is why sealing wooden items with a finishing coat of something is essential.
The stronger your mug, the more uses you’ll get out of it. And if it is sealed with a natural substance, you won’t need to worry about any artificial ingredients potentially getting mixed up in your beverages.
Type Of Sealer Used
There are various different materials that can be used to effectively seal a wooden mug. However, you need to pay the utmost attention to what your wooden mug is sealed with to ensure that it is safe to drink out of.
This is because some wood finishing products could contain harsh chemicals, though it is fairly unlikely that a brand will market a product that has been finished with a potentially harmful chemical.
Still, it is always best to choose a completely natural and organic product to seal wood with, especially considering you will be drinking directly from the wooden mug. Natural products work just as well as products that contain artificial ingredients.
In fact, most people would say that 100% natural products are actually the superior choice, both for the finished look they give wood and the ensured safety when it comes to using these finished wooden products for food and drink.
There are plenty of natural oils and waxes that can be used to finish wood and make it waterproof. They are considered some of the best choices because they soak into the wood, so you won’t notice the taste of them at all when you are drinking from your wooden mug.
Some products only finish wood by creating a layer on the surface of the material to protect it, but this can wear down with use or cause your beverages to taste strange when you use the mug.
Products should list the type of finishing product used on their packaging, so always take a look before you purchase a wooden mug. If you are finishing the mug yourself, you’ll easily be able to get your hands on a natural oil or wax at a supermarket or other high street store.
Always choosing a natural and organic product will pay off when it comes to treating wooden products, particularly when wood reacts so well to being paired with other natural materials.
Whether The Sealer Can Take Extreme Hot Or Cold Temperatures
If you’re using a wooden mug, you’re likely going to want to put hot drinks in it. Extreme temperatures should be avoided most of the time, both because they might damage your mug and its sealant and because you could seriously burn your mouth, but a good wood sealant should be able to withstand a little exposure to hot temperatures.
However, extremely hot temperatures can cause oils and other sealants to start leaking out of the surface of wood, so try to avoid exposing them to excessive heat if you can.
The same is true of exposure to extremely cold temperatures. Wooden mugs are safe to drink from, but too many temperature fluctuations can put pressure on their sealants, so try to avoid filling your mug with liquids that are very cold as well.
You can drink beverages that are warm or cool in your wooden mug, but you should avoid extreme hot or cold temperatures as much as possible to prevent them from wearing away at both the sealant and the wood.
Brand Purchased
When it comes to purchasing any product, the brand you buy from is typically a fairly important factor.
This is because some brands are more reputable than others and you don’t want to risk buying a product from a brand that isn’t considered trustworthy by consumers, especially if a faulty product could harm you in any way.
Luckily, there are plenty of brands with good reputations that produce and sell wooden mugs for great prices.
You can find a wide variety of wooden mugs by different companies on Amazon, which will allow you to read reviews and other information about the safety of the mugs.
Plenty of high street stores will stock wooden mugs, especially those that sell kitchenware, so you won’t need to worry about not having enough choice. Always check that the brand you are buying is reputable and uses natural substances to seal their wooden mugs as this will help you to avoid any products that have the potential to be unsafe.
Type Of Wood Used To Produce The Wooden Mug
Wooden mugs come in plenty of different shapes and sizes, but the type of wood that is used to produce them goes a long way to helping ensure that the mugs are safe to drink from.
This is because some woods are stronger and more water resistant than others, though most of them will require a waterproofing sealant anyway. As long as the type of wood used for the mug can be sealed, you should be safe choosing any material being offered.
Cedar wood is a strong choice for wooden mugs because it works well with non-toxic sealants and gives off an aromatic natural scent. Oak is another good choice because it is super strong and has a dark finish that shouldn’t show any staining.
Beech wood is used to make a lot of kitchen products because it is hardy and rarely splinters, so you wouldn’t need to worry about any bits of wood flaking off into your drink.
Which Is The Best Wood For Being Food Safe?
For your health and safety, there are a few types of wood used to produce kitchenware that should be considered before all others.
The first is maple wood, which is food safe because it is closed-grained, so there’s no chance of it splintering into your drink or sucking in bacteria through its pores. Maple wood is a solid choice because it looks good, resists damage and can be used as either hard or soft maple.
Though walnut is a soft closed-grained wood, it is also an ideal wood to use when prioritising food safety. Walnut wood is pretty resistant to bacteria and shouldn’t flake off inside your mug unless you decide to scratch the inside of the mug for any reason! Walnut is used in plenty of kitchenware products because it is recommended as one of the food safe woods.
Beech wood is similar to maple in that it also has small pores that actively work against any penetrating bacteria. Its small pores are boosted by the fact that it is also closed-grain and can resist a high level of potential damage. Though it’s light colour makes it more susceptible to staining, beech is a recommended food safe wood that pairs excellently with a natural sealant.
3 Ways That You Can Seal a Wooden Mug to Make It Food Safe
Beeswax
Beeswax is a natural product that is 100% free of toxins, making it the perfect sealant for a wooden mug. It has to be rubbed into wood in order to seal it, but it will be absorbed quickly and then get straight to work as a barrier against any moisture or fungi that may try to get into the wood.
Beeswax is organic, so it is a food safe product that will also give your wooden mug a pretty shiny to brighten it up.
Walnut Oil
Walnut oil is smooth and soaks effortlessly into wood, so you don’t need to worry about it not being food safe. There should be no traces of walnut oil above the surface of the wood after it has been applied, allowing it to completely seal wood from the inside out.
Walnut oil will harden the surface of wood and give it a satiny finish that is completely safe for eating off or drinking out of.
Linseed Oil
Much like walnut oil, linseed oil is also an excellent natural oil to use as a sealant. Linseed oil has fantastic waterproofing properties, so it will completely protect the inside of a wooden mug without seeping into any liquids you put into it.
As well as protecting it, linseed oil will work to preserve your wooden mug by hardening the wood and encouraging resistant against both wetness and heat, all while boosting the material’s attractiveness.