I think a good scrub with something that breaks surface tension. You want to get rid of any oils or other allergens as well as disinfect the boards. To be absolutely safe you could pick up some new inexpensive plastic cutting boards for their visit. I saw a friends son have an allergy attack once - fast, scary and luckily not disastrous.

Well, you could buy a couple cheap plastic flexie boards and either keep or chuck when done.

I got a call from our guest and she will be bringing her own food so I guess I am in the clear. I didn't even think of the oils getting in the board. Thanks. I will buy an extra one regardless just so she can, at the very least, not be so worried.

I was going to suggest the same. Get a fresh one. I do have the grouping of 3or4 of the thinner ones i rarely use. (maybe from Ikea) The red one is just for quick small amounts of meat or bacon...goes in the dishwasher. Never used the other colors but they are in that slit space next to the sink somewhere with the pizza pans. I use wood 95% of the time. Large meat carving has its own wooden board.

Even the red one i rarely use has some knife slices in it and that is the issue with them holding bacteria. I even spritz mine with bleach before going into the dishwasher as well as my meat grinding parts.

Wood well tended is a much better cutting surface.

Good time to do a good counter cleaning with a diluted bleach. Having a nice clean surface area for her without counter appliances would be a nice gesture. A spot cleared in the fridge for a shoebox size plastic lidded container just in case.

I don't wish that issue on anyone and alway accommodate my friends.

I'm sure she knows how to package and do her best to not be an overbearing guest. Life goes on and the visit is most important me thinks.

As an individual with a severe allergy to tree nuts, I'd even go a step further. If her allergy is to something not absolutely required in your home, get it out!!!! I've had reactions to an open bag of walnuts not tightly sealed. And they were just sitting in a cupboard.

They are pretty seasoned with their allergies in keeping safe. They are plenty! Dairy, eggs, sesame, flax, nuts. They have been for visits but never dinner. There is relief in the fact they are bringing their own food. At times I have done this too as my diet is also restricted so I am fine with it, even happy. I'd much rather them be safe. We eat a lot of nuts here so the best I will be able to do is give my kitchen good cleaning and maybe put some chips to the side for her in a baggie. My friend and I share the same philosophies on clean eating so the fact her kids will be able to binge drink soda and juice for a day will make up for it:).

I use baking soda to scour my wooden cutting boards, then rinse w/ hot water.

FWIW

Very quickly, your boards (both plastic and wood) will have many crevices to harbor germs. You can't really sand paper the boards smooth.

Go get a few cabinet maker's scrapers. they will give you very smooth, shinny and flat surfaces on your boards .

http://www.qy1.de/img/ziehklingen-300978.jpg

dcarch

I don't have a dishwasher, so I use hot water and (blue) Dawn detergent and I scrub it with a scrubby. Then, I go over the surface with a cut lemon, followed by diluted bleach, and then I scrub one more time with Dawn/hot water.

The left-over lemon halves from squeezing is good to use with a bit of salt and soap as sooz mentions.

I don't like to use much bleach. Maybe go through a qrt a year but do a good diluted counter and board cleaning monthly or when needed.

I use a cabinet scraper on my wooden boards twice a year or so...does a super job giving that smooth cleaning as dcarch mentioned...a good cleaning raises the grain a bit for scraping, let dry then scrape again.

I also use a UV germicidal light to sanitize. No work and no chemicals at all.

dcarch