A Simple Hack Will Prevent Your Cutting Board From Slipping

Cooking is awesome and fun, but it's not without its hazards. You can burn your food (and yourself), start a fire, cry from onion gas, get hot pepper in your eyes or lungs, and perhaps most commonly, you can cut yourself — especially with a dull knife. Further, during the fast pace of prep work, like chopping and slicing, your cutting board can get away from you and increase the chance that you'll hurt yourself. Fortunately, there's an easy way to prevent this.

And there are plenty of other reasons why you should want to know this crucial information. Most importantly, a cutting board shifting beneath the rapid chopping of a kitchen knife is just not safe. Perhaps you need to smash some whole garlic cloves open or peel an onion. Maybe liquid has gotten on your counter and made it treacherous. Regardless of what you're up to in your kitchen, there's a surefire way to stop the sliding of your cutting board and you probably keep it right next to your cutlery anyway.

The best way to keep a cutting board in place is to dampen a kitchen towel and place it beneath your board. You can also use sturdy paper towels— or the non-slip mats for putting under rugs. The underside of your cutting board and the surface of your countertop are both smooth surfaces, and introducing dampened cloth or another material between creates cling and puts a stop to the slippage.

Note, if you employ this kitchen hack, be sure not to leave your towel on the counter when you're done. If left, it can't dry out quickly and has more chance of taking on bacteria while sitting there, says Towel Supercenter. It might be tempting to use the wet cloth to wipe down your prep area, but go for a fresh one. Towel Supercenter also says to be extra prudent when cleaning up after preparing raw meat, eggs, or fish — in this case, they say disposable paper towels are best.

Now that you know your kitchen towels are for more than hanging by the sink to look cute and dry your hands with, it's time to consider what type of towels are best for your kitchen. You may not have heard of the cutting board hack, so it's entirely possible you could be using the wrong towels. Apartment Therapy names five types of kitchen towels — including the ubiquitous and ultra-absorbent terry cloth ones, which are great for spills but can be too linty for wiping, and microfiber cloths for fast, efficient clean-up, as well as polishing.

Based on this assessment, both terry and microfiber hand towels, along with strong paper towels, are must-haves for keeping your cutting board in its proper place and keeping your cooking area secure and sanitary. To circle back to cutting boards, you can also invest in a new cutting board with rubber feet that will grip your counter so you can avoid the damp cloth altogether. But if your trusty old weathered workhouse is running away on you, there's nothing wrong with it — it's just time to throw in the towel — literally.