Sounds like it is not made from a correct wood.

Pore free woods that do not absorb are 'preferred'

You can try treating it with mineral oil (the food type from the pharmacy section of the drug store).

It is walnut from Craft Art. I do oil it once a week.

I make a paste of baking soda and water. Rub it all over with my fingers into the wood. Let it sit for 10-15 minutes and then rinse. I do this regularly with my walnut board to remove the onion and garlic odor. Finally last summer with all the cooking I do and all the yummy summer fruit I was processing, I just began using a small paperstone board that fits in my top prep drawer for fruit. Using the baking soda trick every night for onions and garlic was becoming old, and it necessitated using the Boos cream more often as the baking soda does bleach the color a bit. For a large fruit project like pineapple or melons, I grab a different board.

Edited to correct ipad autocorrect.

This post was edited by breezygirl on Wed, Feb 13, 13 at 11:06

This will happen if you cut onions or garlic on a wooden board. I keep a dishwasher safe plastic board for stinky stuff.
You can redeem your board, you may have to try a couple of things before you have success, try them in order:
1)Sprinkle board with kosher salt. Cut a lemon in half, use the cut side of the lemon to scrub the salt into the board. Scrub well, then rinse and towel dry then let air dry thoroughly. Sniff and move on to step two if necessary.
2) Make a thick paste of baking soda and water. Scrub it in with a green scrubby. Same rinse and dry and sniff test.
3) Sand off 1/16".
Some people would recommend a bleach solution before resorting to sanding, but I would rather just sand, then have bleach impregnate the pores of the wood that I will then cut
on.
Whichever one works, once you get rid of the smell, give the board a nice coating of oil to rejuvenate it after the harsh treatment.
Good luck.

Thanks! I will try these ideas : ) I do have some fruit/veggie cutting mats. Maybe I'll place those on the cutting board in the future. Maybe I should use the mat for onions and garlic and use the board for all other fruits/veggies?

P.S.-- breezy- Did you see my reveal? I don't think I heard from you : ) I was wondering if you saw my credit to you on the spice drawer? lol All my visitors love those little jars!

My DH said he was thinking of mixing some walnut into our pullouts but decided against it because walnut is porous and soft (for a hardwood) so it doesn't make a good cutting board wood.

Yes, donaleen, you're right. (even though they sell these walnut boards) I spoke to a professional countertop maker when planning the kitchen and told him I was considering cutting on my walnut countertop and although I forget the specifics, he said walnut is not the best wood for cutting-- that maple is much better/harder.

I don't have anything to add to the cutting board discussion - localeater's answer was comprehensive. But did you know you can remove garlic and onion smell from your hands by rubbing something made of stainless steel?

Actually, I wonder if it stainless steel would work for the cutting board too?

Parsley is good for neutralizing onion and garlic smells - just rub a sprig or two of parsley over the board hard enough that some of the greenish parsley juice comes out. Then rinse the board.

We do have two small cutting boards and usually only cut onions and garlic on those, but sometimes when preparing something using a lot of onion I want to use the bigger board and parsley works for that.

I use a dilute bleach solution to remove smells. Rinse well and dry/ let dry. And I don't worry about residual chlorine penetrating the wood. Chlorine is a gas in it's natural state so it very quickly dissipates.

An alternative is to use a cheapo paper plate atop your cutting board when cutting smelly stuff like onions.

I was wondering that too, Ginny!

I always massage my knife after cutting those things so my hands don't stink. :)

It loves me.

I too use a plastic cutting board that can go into dishwasher for the stinky stuff. I love love the method kitchen hand soap. I love it so much that I am installing a handsoap dispenser with NeverMT so that I can have this at both sinks. It removes the smell from my hands instantly. Just last week I minced a cupful of garlic for bruschetta for a party and I would usually have a lingering garlic smell on my hands but the method kitchen hand soap really just removes it. My sense of smell is super sensitive and I have been known to wrap my head in one of the shower turbans when I am cooking pasta sauce or curry before people come over and I don't have time to wash hair so that my hair doesn't smell :)