I wanted to add that I bought an acaciaware plate from Pacific Merchants which at first seemed great so I was going to place a big order when I noticed that water would bead off of them and I thought this is not natural wood so I contacted them: they told me the info I had been given by a retailer stating that their acaciaware had no chemical finish was wrong and that if I have MCS I should not be buying their products as they are coated with chemicals. It is considered "food grade safe" but not for us MSC folks. :-( This prompted me to call around about bamboo products and sure enough, I got the same info! :( All bamboo utensils and plates etc. are coated with some kind of chemical varnish or lacquer and was again told this is not appropriate for MCS patients, one company even told me over the phone they were refusing to sell to me!

I have since found an overseas supplier of unfinished wood utensils (spoons & forks, and they are gorgeous) I buy direct from them since all US distributors seem to sell them with the varnish or even "corn oil" which I avoid, but so far as wood plates & bowls I'm still looking.

What did they coat wood plates with 100's of years ago, in the Old West? I'm thinking maybe some kind of tree resin? VCO (organic coconut oil) is what I use to season or polish my utensils with and it works out nicely but I reckon it wouldn't give a "lacquer-like" layer of protection to wood plates. Thanks.

I have a brochure on this that says walnut oil is a good non-toxic finish.

What is the name and contact info on the "overseas supplier of unfinished wood utensils."

Thank you.

This is very interesting, thank you Debra. I wish the seller would indicate which kinds of oils are in that stuff. I consider canola and corn toxic, among others. :) Everyone's different. Anyway I'm looking into shellac, since it's a commercial product I thought it strange that it would only contain those 2 natural ingredients and apparently it doesn't: manufacturers add well...additives otherwise it's got a short 6 months shelf life: www.enotes.com/how-products-encyclopedia/shellac

Anyway, I've been shopping around for organic beeswax for a few days as I wanted to make my own lotion since my organic, 100% natural lotion arrives in a plastic container and last bottle smelled of rotten eggs. :( Sellers of beeswax on eBay will write "organic" but when I emailed them for further info on the organic label, they either admitted that it's not certified organic or just declined to reply altogether. (I did get 1 rude reply back!) I'm still shopping for organic beeswax, wanted to get a small quantity to try it out and not spend too much on that.

Any recommendations for sellers of wood plates and bowls that are naturally sealed or unvarnished? At a normal price please, I can't spend $200 on a bowl: I want to eat off of them, not put them in a museum! ;)

My husband the ocassional woodworker, uses 1/2 beeswax and 1/2 olive oil and burnishes it on when making a bowl (he makes this up ahead by melting the beeswax (from a beekeeper) and then adding the olive oil (sorry, the other way around!) I think he grates the wax before adding it to the warm oil. I have thought that maybe adding a little oreagno oil or TT oil might help preserve this finish??????

Thanks for replies. :)

To ANNIQUE in COLORADO: My supplier of unvarnished wood utensils is in Thailand and I buy through eBay at World Wide Gift.

The utensils are beautiful, just got a new set and I can tell right away by their dullness that they have no finish whatsoever. I use organic coconut oil to polish them with. It takes some effort (since I barely have any energy left) but I wouldn't trust anything else since I read that Stainless Steel leaches chromium and nickel! I only bought rosewood so far.

I've emailed a few sellers in the USA and my conclusion has been that they wrongly call them unfinished but they don't really know since all the manufacturers of rosewood are in Thailand and so far, all 3 I spoke to admitted to using some kind of finish.

Please note that so far they not list them unvarnished, you have to contact the seller and special order. I feel better talking directly to the manufacturer as they understood my needs and were honest about what they use. When I asked what finishes they had they told me coconut oil and spermaceti. I researched spermaceti (whale grease) and was concerned at the potential chemicals used during extraction. I wrote back to the seller who told me they would make them special for me without any varnish whatsoever and they did.

I find Thai eBay sellers to be very honest: another seller had sent me the list of chemicals used in theirs. None of them gave me the impression to be eager to get my money but they took the time to list a special auction for me and get back to me with the link. The other seller was not able to do so and honestly told me. I hope this helps. :)