Frequently asked questions

What exactly is a cutting sheet?

A thin, flexible polyethylene sheet you cut on. Lay it on the counter, or over a board you already own, and use it the way you would use a board. When you are done it goes in the dishwasher, and then flat in a drawer. That is the whole idea — most of what a board does badly comes from being thick, heavy and impossible to store.

Is it really reusable, or does it wear out?

Reusable, and for a long time. A sheet goes through hundreds of washes. Because the surface does not groove, it never builds up the knife scars that eventually make you look at a board and decide it has had its life.

How thin is it?

Thin enough to bend into a curve with one hand, and thin enough that a stack of ten takes up less drawer space than a single board. It is a sheet, not a slab. That flex is also how you get diced onion into a pan without losing half of it to the counter.

Won’t a thin sheet slide around?

It stays put. The underside is embossed, and that pattern grips the counter — no damp tea towel underneath, no chasing it across the worktop while you work. It is the part we spent the most time getting right.

Which side do I cut on?

The smooth side. The embossed side goes down, against the counter, where it does the gripping.

What colour is it?

A warm off-white — closer to bone than to bright paper white. There is no printing or branding anywhere on the sheet itself. It is a tool, not a billboard.

Will it dull my knives?

No. The sheet is much softer than your steel, which is exactly the property you want in a cutting surface — the surface should give, not the edge. It is softer than a plastic board, and nothing like glass or stone, which are the surfaces that genuinely ruin an edge.

One thing worth knowing, because it is true of any thin sheet: it is a few hundredths of an inch thick, so a heavy cut can reach whatever is underneath. On wood or laminate that does not matter. On granite or quartz, lay it over a board if your knives matter to you — plenty of people use it that way anyway, so the board never has to meet the raw chicken.

Will it stain?

Possibly, and we would rather say so than promise otherwise. We have not run a staining test, and strongly pigmented foods — turmeric, beetroot, tomato paste — can leave colour on any polyethylene surface. If it happens it is cosmetic. The sheet is no less clean and no less safe for it.

Will it hold onto smells?

Much less than a grooved surface does. Odour clings to residue, residue clings to grooves, and there are no grooves here. If something strong does linger — garlic, fish — wash it with dish soap and let it dry fully before it goes back in the drawer.

How many washes does one sheet last?

Hundreds. What usually ends the life of a board is the accumulated scarring rather than the material giving out, and scarring is precisely the thing this surface does not do.

How do I know when to replace it?

When you can feel a groove with a fingernail, or when a corner has torn. For most home kitchens that is a long way off.

Can I use it as a serving surface or a placemat?

You can, and people do — a cheese course straight off the sheet looks better than it has any right to. It is a food-contact surface and it wipes clean. It is not a trivet, though; see care and cleaning for the heat question.

Can I lay it over a board I already own?

Yes, and plenty of people do exactly that. You get a surface that washes properly, on top of a board you like the feel of, and the board never has to meet the raw chicken. It is the easiest way to try one without changing how you cook.

Can I cut raw chicken on it?

Yes — that is what it is for. Wash it afterwards in the dishwasher or by hand. The same surface has been used in inspected commercial kitchens for years and meets CFIA requirements for food contact. If you want the detail behind that, it is all on the food safety page.

Can I cut on both sides?

Cut on the smooth side. The embossed side is engineered for grip, and cutting into it works against the thing that keeps the sheet still.

Can I use a serrated knife?

A bread knife is fine. What we would avoid is sawing — a serrated blade dragged hard through bone will go through the sheet as happily as through the bone.

Can I chop through bone on it?

No. Use a heavy board for cleaver work. This is a cutting surface, not a butcher’s block, and a cleaver will go straight through it.

Can I use a mandoline on it?

Yes, and it is a steadier arrangement than most boards give you. The mandoline’s feet sit flat on the sheet, and the sheet grips the counter.

Can I roll pastry or knead dough on it?

Yes. It is smooth, it stays put, and it goes in the dishwasher afterwards — which is more than your counter manages. A full 18″ × 12″ is the size to use for this.

Can I put a hot pan on it?

No. Not a trivet, and not somewhere near a lit burner. It is polyethylene, and heat will deform it. This is the one rule we would ask you to remember.

Can it go in the freezer?

Yes. Polyethylene handles domestic freezer temperatures without going brittle, so you can freeze things flat on a sheet and peel them off later. Berries and dumplings, mostly.

Can it go in the microwave?

No. It is not a cooking surface, and there is nothing to gain by putting it in there.

Can I cut pizza on it?

Yes, once the pizza is off the tray and no longer scorching. Give it a minute first.

Can children use it?

It is lighter than a board and it does not slide, which makes it kinder to small hands than the alternative. The knife is still the dangerous part, and that has not changed since anyone’s grandmother.

Does it work on a glass or induction cooktop?

As a surface, yes — it lies flat on glass and grips it well. Never on a hob that is on, or still hot from being on.

Is it dishwasher safe?

Yes, top rack or bottom, and it comes out flat. Nothing to warp, nothing to season, nothing to oil. The only heat to avoid is the kind that comes off a pan or a burner.

How do I wash it by hand?

Dish soap, a cloth, warm water. There are no grooves to dig into, so you do not need a scouring pad and you do not need to scrub hard. It takes about ten seconds.

Can I use bleach or a sanitising solution?

A dilute household bleach solution is fine, the same as you would use on any kitchen surface. Rinse thoroughly afterwards. Avoid solvents, oven cleaner and abrasive powders.

Can I use a scouring pad?

You can, but there is nothing to gain from it. Abrasives scratch any plastic surface, and scratches are the one thing this product exists to avoid.

How should I dry it?

Stand it in a dish rack or lean it against something. It dries fast because there is nowhere for water to sit. It can also go straight into the drawer damp without any harm.

How do I store it?

Flat in a drawer, flat in a cupboard, or upright in a dish rack. No stand, no hook, no shelf of its own. A stack of five takes less room than one board.

What if it curls at the corners?

Lay it flat under something heavy for a few hours and it settles. Storing it flat rather than rolled prevents it happening in the first place.

How do I get a strong smell out of it?

Wash it with dish soap, then let it dry completely before it goes away. Trapped moisture is what makes a smell persist.

Has it actually been tested?

Yes, by an independent laboratory rather than by us. BIO|FOOD|TECH in Charlottetown ran the study in March 2019, commissioned by our founder before the product was sold to anybody. He wanted to know whether it worked before he asked anyone to believe that it did.

What did the lab actually do?

They pressed ground beef onto pieces of CleanCut and onto pieces of a polypropylene cutting board, left it in contact for up to ninety minutes, then washed both surfaces the same way and counted what was left behind. Two trials, run in duplicate. The method is written out in full here.

What did they find?

Washing removed 2.77 log CFU/mL from CleanCut and 1.64 log from the polypropylene board. Put plainly: for the same contamination, washing leaves roughly thirteen times more bacteria behind on the plastic board.

Does that mean it kills bacteria?

No, and we want to be exact about this. CleanCut is not antibacterial, not antimicrobial and not self-sanitising. There is nothing in it that kills anything. The surface has nowhere for bacteria to lodge, so an ordinary wash removes more of them. That is the entire mechanism, and it is the honest version.

Is it better than a wooden board?

We do not know, so we will not say. The study compared CleanCut with polypropylene boards only. Anyone who tells you how their product compares with wood should be able to show you the test.

Does it protect against Salmonella or E. coli?

The study measured aerobic plate count — the general bacterial population — not named pathogens. We have no data on specific organisms and we will not imply otherwise. Keep doing the ordinary things: wash your hands, cook it through.

Is it CFIA compliant?

Yes. The surface meets Canadian Food Inspection Agency requirements for food contact, and it has been used in inspected commercial kitchens for years.

Is it BPA-free?

Yes. It is polyethylene, which contains no bisphenol A.

Does it contain PFAS or PTFE?

No. Polyethylene is a polyolefin — no fluoropolymers, nothing with a half-life, nothing to leach.

Should I keep a separate sheet for raw meat?

It is good practice with any surface, and it is a great deal cheaper here than it is with boards. One for protein, one for everything else — which is most of why the five-pack exists.

Can I sanitise it on the dishwasher’s hot cycle?

Yes. It handles normal dishwasher temperatures on either rack.

Where can I read the substantiation?

The method and the limits are set out on the food safety and care page. If you want more than that, write to us and we will send you what we have. We would rather you read the document than take our word for it.

What is it made of?

A polyethylene sheet. No PTFE, no PFAS, nothing with a half-life. We manufacture it ourselves in Kensington, Prince Edward Island, Canada — we are not a brand that buys sheets from someone else and puts a name on them. That is the whole story, really.

Is it recyclable?

Yes, it is recyclable at the end of its life. What varies is the programme rather than the product: municipalities differ on what they accept, so it is worth checking what yours takes before you put it in the bin.

What do I do with it at the end of its life?

Rinse it, let it dry, and check your municipal programme for rigid polyethylene. If your kerbside collection does not take it, a depot or a store drop-off point usually will. If your council’s answer is confusing, send it to us and we will help you work it out.

Is it made from recycled material?

Not currently, and we make no recycled-content claim. If that changes we will say so and show the documentation.

Is it compostable or biodegradable?

No. It is a durable plastic, designed to last hundreds of washes and then be recycled. Anything claiming to be both hard-wearing and compostable deserves a second look.

Why is a reusable plastic sheet better than the alternative?

Because the alternative is usually a board that gets scarred, gets thrown out, and gets replaced — and then again a year later. One sheet that survives hundreds of washes and is recyclable afterwards is a smaller footprint than a procession of boards into landfill.

What sizes can you cut?

Anything from 6″ × 6″ up to 18″ × 12″, in whole inches. Eighteen by twelve is the full sheet, so that is the ceiling.

How does a custom size work?

Choose Custom size on the product page and tell us the dimensions. We cut it here in Kensington after you order, and it ships about a day later. If you are not sure what will fit, describe your counter and we will suggest something.

Does a smaller size cost less?

No — every size is the same price. A small sheet is cut from a full one, so the material cost is identical. The upside is that a custom cut never costs you extra: you are buying a sheet, and the shape is your business.

Why is 6″ × 6″ the smallest?

Below that it stops being a cutting surface and starts being a coaster. We would rather tell you that than sell you one.

Can you cut circles or other shapes?

Not at the moment — rectangles, in whole inches. If you need a particular shape for a particular job, tell us what it is. Enough requests for the same thing is how a thing gets made.

Can I order different sizes in one order?

Yes. Add each size to the cart separately and they ship together, in one envelope, at no extra cost.

Which size should I start with?

The full 18″ × 12″ if it is replacing your main board. The 12″ × 9″ if your counter is small or most of your cooking is weeknight prep. The 9″ × 6″ is for garlic, herbs and one piece of fruit — most people want it as a second sheet rather than a first.

Which pack should I buy?

Most people start with five. One lives in the drawer, one stays on the counter, and the spares are what make the difference when you are cooking for people. See the packs.

Why does a single sheet cost so much more per sheet?

Because shipping is most of the cost of a small order, and we would rather explain that than bury it in a shipping fee. The five-pack is far better value and we are not going to pretend otherwise.

What does shipping cost?

Nothing. Free across Canada, no minimum, no threshold to reach. The price you see is the price you pay, plus tax.

How long will my order take?

Stock sizes usually leave within one to two business days, and custom cuts add about one more. Transit time depends on how far you are from Prince Edward Island, Canada — Atlantic Canada is quick, the West Coast and the North take longer. You get tracking the moment the parcel is collected.

Do you ship outside Canada?

Not yet. Write to us if you want us to — we keep track of those requests and they genuinely influence what we do next.

Can I return it?

Stock sizes, yes — email us within 30 days of delivery and we will set up the return. It does not need to be unused. If you tried it and did not get on with it, that is exactly what the policy is for. We do not resell returned sheets, so we are not inspecting it for wear — we do need it back, and return postage is yours to cover. Now and then we decide the postage is not worth it and tell you to keep the sheet, but that is case by case, so write to us first. Read the refund policy.

Can I return a custom size?

Not for a change of mind, because it was cut to your dimensions and cannot be resold. If it arrives damaged, or if we cut it wrong, that is our error and we will replace or refund it without argument. If you are unsure about sizing, order a stock size first — they cost the same.

What if it arrives damaged?

Tell us within 14 days and we will replace or refund it in full, including any return shipping. We can only approve a replacement or refund after we have agreed the next step with you, so email us before you do anything else — including before you pay to send anything back.

How do I start a return?

Email us with your order number and what went wrong. We reply within one business day with instructions. Please wait to hear from us before sending anything back.

Can I exchange it for a different size?

Every size costs the same, so there is no price difference to settle — the fastest route is to return the original for a refund and place a new order. Tell us you are doing that and we will move the new one to the front of the queue. That is different from a replacement, which is what we send free when the order was wrong in the first place.

Do you do wholesale or commercial orders?

Yes, through our commercial side at wholesale.cleancutsafety.com. That is a different product, built for food-service volume rather than for a home kitchen.

Is it made in Canada?

Yes. Every sheet is manufactured in our own plant in Kensington, Prince Edward Island, Canada, and ships from the same building. CleanCut Safety Inc. is Canadian owned — no overseas factory, no importer in the middle. The polyethylene stock comes from a supplier, as it does for every maker in this category; the sheet itself is made and cut here.

Who makes these?

We do, in Kensington, Prince Edward Island, Canada. We are the manufacturer, not a reseller — which is the only reason custom cutting is possible at all.

Who started CleanCut?

Dennis Arsenault, who spent thirty years in plastics and built this to lower the risk of the food people eat. He died in 2026, and the team is carrying on what he started, out of the same building. His story is worth five minutes.

How do I reach you?

Through the contact page. A person reads it — usually one who has spent the morning cutting sheets — and we reply within a business day.