We went back to the old way, on purpose.

Look in most kitchen drawers today and you'll find plastic spatulas with melted edges, a chopping board full of knife scratches and a non-stick pan that is slowly losing its coating. They are cheap and they are everywhere.

They also wear down. What wears off a spatula in a hot pan or a board under a knife doesn't disappear. It ends up in the food we cook for the people we love.

Sourdough sliced on an acacia board with acacia utensils in a jug

what we found

What modern kitchen tools leave behind

Our grandparents cooked with wood, iron and glass. Today most kitchens run on plastic and coatings. Here is what researchers have found.

  • Plastic boards shed into food

    Every cut on a plastic board scrapes off tiny pieces. A 2023 study estimated that chopping on one board can release 14 to 71 million polyethylene particles a year, and about 79 million from polypropylene.

    Source: Environmental Science & Technology, 2023

  • Black plastic can carry flame retardants

    A 2024 study found flame retardants from recycled electronics in black plastic kitchen utensils. The researchers later corrected their exposure math downward, but the chemicals were there. They don't belong next to dinner.

    Source: NPR, on the Chemosphere study

  • Non-stick coatings are PFAS

    Most non-stick pans are coated with PTFE, one of the PFAS or "forever chemicals". Coatings scratch and wear over time, and Europe is now working on restricting PFAS as a group.

    Source: European Chemicals Agency

The science on what these particles and chemicals do inside the body is still young, and we won't pretend otherwise. We just don't think you should have to wait for the final answer to make a simple swap.

The truth about your kitchen drawer

What are you really cooking with?

Most kitchen tools look harmless. Here is what heat, time and washing do to them.

Worn black plastic spatula and slotted spoon with melted edges

Plastic

  • Made from oil, wears down
  • Melts in a hot pan
  • Can leach compounds into hot food1
Stained grey silicone spatula and spoon

Silicone

  • Holds grease and smells
  • Can leach compounds when hot2
  • Stains and gets sticky with age
Bamboo spoon and spatula made of glued strips, one splitting at the seam

Bamboo

  • Strips held together with glue
  • Seams split with heat and water
  • Some is bamboo mixed with plastic3
Varnished wooden spoon and spatula with cracked, flaking lacquer

Lacquered wood

  • Varnish on top, not bare wood
  • Varnish cracks and flakes
  • Once chipped, the wood splits

Sources: 1. BfR on nylon utensils. 2. study on silicone moulds. 3. EU ruling on bamboo in plastic.

our mission

Fewer plastics in the kitchen. Healthier food on the table.

Properware exists to make that swap easy. We make kitchen tools from the materials kitchens trusted for centuries: solid wood, stainless steel, cast iron and glass.

We start with the two things you use every single day: a cutting board and the spoons and spatulas you cook with, both in solid acacia and oiled by hand. From here we only add what we would use in our own homes. Every product page tells you exactly what it is made of, how it is finished and how to look after it, so it lasts for years and can be handed down.

Shop boards and utensils
  • Nothing that sheds plastic Wood, steel, iron and glass only
  • Simple finishes Plant oil and beeswax, nothing synthetic
  • Made to last Looked after, not thrown away
  • Told straight Materials and care on every page