Power Tool Services is the exclusive stockist of Joe Mama's, food-safe wood care hand-blended in small batches in Cape Town from honest ingredients: food-grade white mineral oil, beeswax and carnauba. We stock the Cutting Board Oil that feeds thirsty timber, the Cutting Board Wax that seals it, the Salad Bowl Finish for bowls and utensils, and the raw beeswax and carnauba pellets for makers who blend their own. No solvents, no mystery additives, and nothing you would not want near your food.
Shop the kitchen range Oil or wax?
They do different jobs, and most boards want both. Oil soaks in; wax sits on top.
Oil · the deep drink
Joe Mama's Cutting Board Oil is 100% food-grade white mineral oil: thin, free-flowing, and it penetrates deep to replace the moisture every wash strips out. It is inert, so unlike cooking oils it never goes rancid, and it keeps wood supple from the inside. Reach for it for regular maintenance and for new or very dry boards, butcher blocks, bowls and utensils.
Cutting Board Oil 500 ml → R 169.00Wax · the protective seal
Joe Mama's Cutting Board Wax blends food-grade mineral oil with about 28% beeswax. The oil still conditions, but the beeswax cures at the surface into a soft, water-resistant seal: water beads off, stains stay out, and the board buffs to a smooth, non-sticky sheen. Use it after oiling, or on its own to maintain a board that is already well fed.
Cutting Board Wax 100 g → R 99.00Just maintaining a board? Oil is quick and easy. Want water resistance and a finished sheen? Wax. Best results, every time: oil first to feed the wood, let it drink overnight, then wax to seal it in.
Food-safeBeeswax and food-grade mineral oil paste for chopping boards, butcher blocks and wooden countertops. Seals the grain, repels water, buffs non-sticky. Apply thin, leave 20 minutes, buff off.
R 99.00
Food-safePure food-grade white mineral oil to rehydrate dry wood. Flood the board, let it soak overnight, wipe off the excess. Odourless, tasteless, never goes rancid. Also the right oil for salad bowls and spoons.
R 169.00
Food-safeA three-wax blend of beeswax, carnauba and food-grade mineral oil for salad bowls, serving boards and utensils. Carnauba adds hardness for daily use and a soft satin glow. Thin layer, dry, buff.
R 119.00The same waxes Joe Mama's blends with, in easy-melting pellet and flake form for wood-care pastes, candles, balms and cosmetics. Sold in 150 g, 250 g and 1 kg.
Food-safePure cosmetic-grade yellow beeswax with the natural honey colour and scent of real beeswax. Melt and blend into wood-care pastes, candles and balms.
From R 99.00
Food-safeRefined, filtered white beeswax for a neutral colour and minimal scent: finishes for pale woods and light-coloured cosmetics. Same easy-melting pellets.
From R 99.00
Food-safeThe hardest natural wax there is, food-safe and plant-derived. A little goes a long way: blend it into your own pastes for hardness, water resistance and a durable satin shine.
From R 99.00Wood is thirsty. Every wash strips a little moisture, and dry timber is what cracks, warps and stains. The fix is simple and food-safe: rehydrate with oil, then seal with wax.
Wash with mild soap and water and let the board dry completely. Oil and wax only soak into dry timber; a damp board traps moisture.
Pour Cutting Board Oil on generously and spread it, flooding the surface. Leave it overnight. On a new or very dry board, repeat until the wood stops drinking.
Wipe off any excess oil, then apply a thin, even coat of Cutting Board Wax with a clean cloth. Leave 20 to 30 minutes (overnight on new timber), then buff to a soft sheen.
Hand-wash only, never the dishwasher, and dry straight away. Re-treat whenever the wood looks dry or water no longer beads.
For salad bowls, spoons and pale turned woodware, use the Salad Bowl Finish rather than a yellow wax: it nourishes and seals without darkening light-coloured timber. If a bowl is very dry, give it a coat of Cutting Board Oil first for a deeper drink.
The full oil-then-wax routine for cutting boards and butcher blocks, with the weekly-then-monthly schedule.
Read the guide →How food-grade mineral oil, beeswax and jojoba each protect wood, and when to reach for which.
Read the guide →Keep bowls, spoons and turned woodware nourished and water-resistant without darkening light woods.
Read the guide →A workshop routine with a hard beeswax paste for table-saw tops, plane soles and chisels. Workshop wax is not food-safe.
Read the guide →Two more Joe Mama's blends are on the way and not yet on our shelves: Premium Board Conditioner, a mineral oil with jojoba for fine end-grain boards, and Tool & Cast-Iron Wax, a harder beeswax paste for the workshop that is not food-safe and must never be used on a cutting board. Ask us in store for timing.
Joe Mama's is made for us, by us, in Cape Town: warmed and hand-blended in small batches so every jar is fresh and consistent. We know exactly what is in it because we put it there.
We sell the tools that make cutting boards, bowls and furniture, so the finish that keeps them alive sits on the same shelf. In stock at 221 Imam Haron Road, Claremont; couriered nationwide, free over R2000.
Oil or wax, which wax for a pale bowl, how often to re-treat: ask at the counter or call 021 674 2119. Technical and safety data sheets for every product are on joemama.co.za.
Visit joemama.co.za → Finishing timber furniture or worktops? See Osmo Top-Oil →
Yes. Every kitchen product is made from food-grade ingredients listed for food-contact use: food-grade white mineral oil (FDA 21 CFR 178.3620(a)) and beeswax (FDA 21 CFR 184.1973), plus plant-derived carnauba in the Salad Bowl Finish. Once you have buffed off the excess, the finish is non-toxic and safe for surfaces that touch food. The one exception is the forthcoming Tool & Cast-Iron Wax, a workshop product that is not food-safe.
Honest, simple ingredients: beeswax, food-grade white mineral oil and carnauba, depending on the product. There are no solvents, turpentine or aromatic hydrocarbons. Everything is hand-blended in small batches in Cape Town.
Food-grade white mineral oil is the standard oil for wood that touches food, and it is what Joe Mama's Cutting Board Oil is: ultra-refined, odourless, colourless and inert, so it does not go rancid the way olive, sunflower or other cooking oils do inside the timber. Use it on cutting boards, butcher blocks, salad bowls, spoons and wooden worktops.
Food-grade mineral oil, applied generously and left to soak overnight, then sealed with a beeswax paste. A butcher block is end grain, so it drinks far more than a face-grain board: on a new block, repeat the oil until the wood stops absorbing before you wax it, and oil it weekly for the first month.
For oils, re-apply weekly for the first month on a new board, then monthly or whenever the wood looks dry. For waxes and finishes, re-apply whenever the wood looks dry or water no longer beads on the surface. Boards that are washed often need treating more frequently.
Oil penetrates deep to rehydrate thirsty timber and is ideal for regular maintenance and new or very dry boards. Wax sits on the surface to seal in that moisture and add water resistance. Most people use both: oil first to feed the wood, then wax to seal it.
Both are pure beeswax pellets. Yellow is cosmetic-grade with the natural honey colour and scent; white is refined and filtered for a neutral colour and minimal scent, which is what you want in a finish for pale woods or a light-coloured cosmetic. Carnauba is a different, harder plant wax that you add to a blend for hardness and shine.
Typical shelf life is 24 months from manufacture; store it cool, dry and out of direct sunlight with the lid on. Joe Mama's is sold exclusively through Power Tool Services: online on this page, or in store at 221 Imam Haron Road, Claremont, Cape Town, with courier delivery across South Africa and free delivery on orders over R2000.
