garlic in wooden chopping board - can it be got rid of?

[llandb]

We're still unpacking from a house move and the only chopping board we have found so far is the wooden one that we use for bread, fruit and other non-smelly stuff. It's not really fancy, but the nicest we have.

In desperation I've used it for more heavy-duty or smelly things, but always put something down (e.g. several layers of kitchen paper) between said smelly thing and the board.

Last night, DP, bless him, chopped lots of garlic directly on the board and left all the skins and ends lying around on the board rather than putting them in the compost and cleaning the board. He's the first to admit that he has no sense of smell.

I tutted and threw out the garlic remnants and wiped the whole thing with oil and hoped for the best.

But too late! - today I've noticed that everything that rests for an instant on the board comes back tasting of garlic. Including chocolate buttons :(

He maintains that he didn't know that garlic and onion smells soak in (despite six years of co-habiting and conversations on the topic) and says 'we'll just turn it over then'.

Is there any way to get rid of it, or is this now forever the garlic-cutting board? (Or would you just turn it over and will I be forever traumatised, knowing that the downward side is stinky? :o)

Garlic smells go if rubbed with either parsley or tomato but if not enough, try bleach!

rub it with lemon (cut in half) and a bit of salt as an abrasive, iirc

Thanks - will try lemon + salt as we have a lemon on the turn anyway - if that fails, will try tomato and then bleach!

Fingers crossed :o - thanks for replying!

did anything work?

Oh boo, RL got in the way and I didn't do it (slattern emoticom). Maybe I'd better go and do it now, before I forget! :o

Right, done :)

Though after DP's 'just turn it over' remark, I thought he'd have the nouse to turn it over of his own initiative. So, going on the assumption that he'd done so, I sniffed the underside and it smelled lovely and fresh and I thought 'oh the magical powers of wood - it's gone spontaneously!'

But nooo, the top was still a bit whiffy.

Mustn't grumble as he did hunt for (and find) the alternative chopping board, for garlic!

Forgot to ask what to do after wiping condiments over the board! Decided against leaving it (in case DP puts his toast on it in the morning and doesn't fancy salty lemon :o) yet decided I needed to leave some juice there so it had a chance to soak in. So I compromised and wiped it off.

Already it smells of lemon and not garlic. Yay! And thanks v. much to both of you!