Alternative Preservational Oils/Polishes?

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wisnoskij

Joined
Dec 13, 2012
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I was wondering if some oils are simply bad to use for preserving steal blades?
Will pretty much any normal oil work (vegetable, olive, flax, coconut, etc.), or will some have high acid contents or some other undesirable chemical that will damage steel?

The brochure recommends machine or gun oil, but not only would I prefer to use edible oil, but I do not really want to purchase something specially for this.

Also, I have a similar question for leather sheath care and wood handle care. Yes, there is leather [shoe] polish, but if it is not a display piece would keeping it clean and dry and wiping it with a small amount of some kitchen oil every month of so be good enough to preserve it? Ditto for the wood?
 
Your plan for leather is fine. I don't really know of a very acidic oil. Really if you can eat it and not notice it burn your tongue like some sour skittles or warheads, it should be fine. I myself like mineral oil(can be used as laxative, swallowed). Olive oil, vegetables oil, all that should be fine. I just don't like something like gun oil because I cut food all the time with every one of my knives.

Also, try searching in google "oil bladeforums", http://lmgtfy.com/?q=oil+bladeforums

You can find out so much info by using the search function with a forum, just a treasure trove.
 
Beware of using vegetable oils on the leather. Vegetable oils break down over time, and they will become acidic. If only used on a blade that gets cleaned regularly, not a big deal. But, a leather sheath that's been soaking up a lot of that, over a period of time, will be hard to get clean again. You don't want that acidic action in constant contact with your blade (or brass, if there's any on your knife).

Some dedicated leather conditioner for the sheath, or food-grade (USP) mineral oil for either/both the knife and sheath, won't have the acidity issues, and will be perfectly safe for food use as well.


David
 
That is strange, I specifically heard that mineral oil was bad for leather "Please do not use any oils that contain mineral oils or listed as petroleum distillates. This type of oil over time breaks down into a solvent". but there is also a bunch of other sources that use other reasons not to, or just say never use mineral oil on leather.

There does not seem to be a general consensus. There are loads and loads of articles saying to rub in some type of vegetable oil every so often. But also some people saying that it damages it.

I found this study on leather book bindings that found that in general application of some sort of conservative has no conversational effect, but also did no damage. (http://cool.conservation-us.org/byorg/abbey/an/an05/an05-2/an05-206.html)

It seems to imply that if you want to soften leather (or keep it from gradually hardening), apply oil. But otherwise it is more of a temporary beautification device (and probably a safer cleaning product than rubbing soapy water over it).
 
wisnoskij said:
That is strange, I specifically heard that mineral oil was bad for leather "Please do not use any oils that contain mineral oils or listed as petroleum distillates. This type of oil over time breaks down into a solvent"

There does not seem to be a general consensus. There are loads and loads of articles saying to rub in some type of vegetable oil every so often. But also some people saying that it damages it.

I found this study on leather book bindings that found that in general application of some sort of conservative has no conversational effect, but also did no damage. (http://cool.conservation-us.org/byorg/abbey/an/an05/an05-2/an05-206.html)

It seems to imply that if you want to soften leather (or keep it from gradually hardening), apply oil. But otherwise it is more of a temporary beautification device (and probably a safer cleaning product than rubbing soapy water over it).
Click to expand...


Not all 'mineral oils' are created equal. They cover a gamut of chemical compositions and degrees of purity, all depending on how they're refined.

The pure grades of mineral oil, i.e. the 'USP' or 'food grade' versions, have been further refined and have no solvent content left in them (and won't break down into it, either). The term 'mineral oil', in the broadest sense, means literally any petroleum-based oil that came from the earth ('mined', in other words). The refinement of it produces an infinite range of oils (separate from petroleum solvents, which are what gets refined out of the mix as it gets more pure), each with different chemical properties. The mineral oils graded as 'USP' or 'food safe'/'food grade' don't have any of the solvents left in them, which is why they're 'safe' for human consumption.

As mentioned, dedicated leather conditioners are best, containing other natural 'nutrients' for leather, and usually don't contain any petroleum products. But the safer/purer grades of mineral oil won't harm the leather either, and will do fine in the absence of anything else.


David
 
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Mineral Oil works great for all my blades. I had been using linseed oil for leather sheaths and wood handles, but I may have to change my process based on what people are saying here about oils breaking down.
 
If you mix up some pure mineral oil and beeswax you will have something that is foodsafe for use on wood, leather and steel. Sculptors often use beeswax on metal to lock in and preserve a patina. I've done the same for protecting carbon steel knives used for preparing food. Linseed oil is foodsafe also and some of the commercially made butcher block treatments have linseed, mineral oil and beeswax. I haven't done a mix of the 3 yet, but it should work well. My understanding is that linseed tends to dry out and leave a protective coating whereas mineral oil tends to stay liquid. I can see benefits of both characteristics.
 
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I use a coat of TufGlide, let it dry - then top it off with a good coat of Renaissance Wax. Puts a beautiful finish on the steel - and protects it against the elements.

TedP
 
For a leather sheath, the very best thing is a wax-based cream, rather than an oil of any kind... not even Neatsfoot oil. While Neatsfoot oil will be good for 'most' leather, it softens it, which is NOT something you want to happen to a sheath. Cooking oils go rancid very quicky. In fact, if that bottle of olive oil in your pantry is more than two weeks old, it is ALREADY rancid, but most people won't notice a flavor change for a couple of months. However, sitting inside the leather of your sheath, it gets really grotty after several years. Stick with shoe cream or Sno-seal. The former will re-vitalize and protect, the latter will protect.

For your blades... my choice is Marine Tuf-Coat or Tuf-Glide. I've never had any rust, and the small amount on my EDC has never affected the taste of my apple or cheese or even given me a bellyache. That said, I wouldn't recommend Tuf-Glide as a salad dressing...


Stitchawl
 
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