Right, so I’ve been going down a rabbit hole this week that started with someone online asking a very simple question: how do you get the smell out of those old pressed wood salad bowls? You know the ones — dark brown, slightly shiny, vaguely basket-weave textured. Every grandmother on the planet seemed to own a set.

What followed in the comments was genuinely one of the most entertaining and unexpectedly educational threads I’ve read in a while. And it sent me spiralling into memories, material science, and the surprisingly contentious world of food-grade oils.