To keep your wooden bowl good for a long time you should never soak the wooden bowl. When you wash a wooden bowl don't put the wooden bowl directly into the water. Instead wash your wooden bowl as soon as you are done using it. Never let wet or hot food stay in a wooden bowl too long since you do not want the food to dry onto the wooden bowl.
Occasionally, every couple of months or anytime your bowl looks or feels dry, lightly oil it (the oil is available at your local hardware store and at the big box stores). Spread the oil over the entire surface of the bowl, being sure to get it in the nooks and crannies of knots and decorative beads. Let the oil stand for a few minutes and then wipe and buff your bowl with a cotton cloth (paper towels work well).
Linseed oil, also known as flaxseed oil, is a colorless to yellowish oil obtained from the dried ripe seeds of the flax plant. Linseed oil is an edible oil marketed as a nutritional supplement. Due to its high levels of Linolenic acid (a particular form of Omega-3 fatty acid), it is used as a nutritional supplement.
Tung oil or China wood oil is a drying oil obtained by pressing the seed from the nut of the tung tree. As a drying oil, tung oil hardens (dries) upon exposure to air. The resulting coating is transparent and plastic-like, a property exploited in most of its applications, which include wood finishing and the composition of oil paints and printing inks. Related drying oils include linseed, safflower, poppy, and soybean.
As the source of tung oil is a nut, people with nut allergies often report adverse reactions to contact with (or even the odor of) tung oil. Reactions can be severe in some cases. While tung oil has been used for many centuries as a finish for kitchen items such as wooden bowls and cutting boards, some individuals must avoid its use.