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One of my wooden spoons has mould on it (black spots, not able to be removed by surface scrubbing - I went on holidays without clearing the dishwasher...).

Is there a way to remove the mould? Or should I just buy a new wooden spoon?

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If its soaked in the spoon, I'd not risk it for an inexpensive wooden spoon. A soak in a bleach solution is the common treatment though. I'd buy a new one or replace it with a high temp silicone spoon (no unremovable mold issues in the future then!)

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    +1: years ago, my Dad had a problem with mould in his homemade beer. He replaced all the equipment with no joy. Turned out it was the wooden spoon he used to stir the malt; soaking it in bleach didn't help. He switched to a metal spoon after that.
    – Vicky
    Sep 19, 2011 at 15:33
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    Yeah just toss it. Not worth the effort unless it's like your mom's favorite spoon, and in that case, seal it and hang it on the wall as a warning to future spoon users.
    – Katey HW
    Sep 19, 2011 at 16:00
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    yeah, I kind of figured it was a goner when I saw that the mold had gone deep into the spoon. A pity though - it's the spoon I use for all my sweet cooking, and is decorated accordingly! I don't even know why it was in the dishwasher to start with :(
    – KimbaF
    Sep 19, 2011 at 20:24
  • @KimbaF ya, I don't put wood in the washer.
    – rfusca
    Sep 19, 2011 at 21:03
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rfusca raises a good point - if you're worried that it's actually penetrated deep, you might just replace it.

That said, I'd just use sandpaper. Hopefully it's just a surface stain, and you won't have to take much off, but you'll be able to see how deep it's gotten as you go!

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    Please don't use sandpaper on active mold. You'll kick mold spores up everywhere and somebody could get sick.
    – rfusca
    Sep 18, 2011 at 21:06
  • @rfusca ... good point on the spores -- you might be okay with wet sanding, but in most cases, I'd just replace it. (with another wooden spoon ... silicone has its place, but it's no replacement for a wooden spoon)
    – Joe
    Sep 19, 2011 at 0:23
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    @rfusca: I think it's a manageable problem, like Joe said, with wet sanding, or just doing it outdoors with a bit of moving air. It's certainly bad to breathe in high concentrations of spores, but you're not going to get that from this unless you're sitting inside with no ventilation and your nose right in it - and maybe not even then.
    – Cascabel ♦
    Sep 19, 2011 at 0:55
  • @Joe I've never had any issues from when I replaced my wooden spoon with a silicone, nor have I heard a compelling reason before. Could you elaborate? If not here, pop in chat and drop a reason - I'd love to discuss.
    – rfusca
    Sep 19, 2011 at 1:09
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    @rfusca: Even stronger silicone spoons aren't as solid as wood. You can't really scrape the bottom of a pot with them, for example. (Wood is also just pretty.)
    – Cascabel ♦
    Sep 19, 2011 at 1:12

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