Image courtesy Art Petrosemolo

Care and Maintenance

•  Use your bowl for uncut fruit, nuts in shells, wrapped candy, etc. Place a glass or other waterproof bowl inside your Blake’s Bowl to hold moist foods or flowers.
• Clean with a dry or damp soft cloth.
• Avoid extremes of temperature and humidity; these stress wood and can lead to cracks.
• Avoid lengthy exposure to sunlight, which hastens the darkening of wood.
• Solid wood segments that form your bowl are joined with Titebond III glue, which is “waterproof.” It is a water-base adhesive “approved for indirect food contact.”
• Blake’s Bowls have at least five coats of “Wipe-On Poly” by Minwax that Blake has used for decades on unpainted wood surfaces. It is a thin, clear liquid that soaks into the top layer of wood, sealing and strengthening it. Once polymerized the finish seems impervious  to all but the most aggressive solvents, so it is food-safe.
• If the finish dulls after years of use, simply wipe on another coat of Wipe-On Poly. This will restore the original luster and heal scratches and abrasions.
• You can apply a wax finish, but Blake finds that eventually wax dries, turns dull and milky, and interferes with subsequent durable finishes.
• Wood evolves after its formation by the tree’s cambium layer, and the contrasting species in a segmented bowl expand and contract in different ways. Your “living” bowl may acquire flaws over the years. Think of it as natural aging.