Do you oil your knives?

MEJ

MEJ

Joined
Jul 24, 2011
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1,283
As of this year my collection has grown considerably and was wondering how you guys maintain them? I like to use my knives for food purposes so i would rather avoid oiling them (aside from the pivot). From what I understand if i keep them dry i do not have to oil them. Most of my folders are stainless so i dont do much besides wiping them down or a rinse off.

Is a quick wipedown every-night and a weekly rinse enough to maintain them? What about the d2 ones?

What about my 1095 and A2 knives, if i keep them dry are they fine forever? What if one has a patina already?


Anyways thanks for the help.
 
Astroglide is a great multipurpose lubricant. I use it on all of my guns and knives, and after I come home from work, it has other uses.

....okay, serious post. I use white petroleum jelly for the knives I don't intend to use for a while. For the knives that I will be using, I recommend Tuff Cloth. I don't remember whether or not it's food safe, however.
 
Mineral oil is supposed to be great for food prep knives.
 
Kwon Kwang said:
...I recommend Tuff Cloth. I don't remember whether or not it's food safe, however.
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Here is what Sentry Solutions (the maker of Tuf-Cloth) has to say about food use:

Can I use my TUF-CLOTH treated knife to cut food?
None of Sentry Solutions products are FDA (Food and Drug Administration) approved. TUF-CLOTH's protection bonds to metal surfaces and the dry protective shield is non-toxic. The bonding reduces the possibility of transferring material to food items that might be cut. In comparison, any oil on a blade's surface will transfer to any food cut. If you plan to cut food with a TUF-CLOTH treated blade, we suggest that you wipe or wash the blade first, then re-wipe when convenient.
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But my question is wether using oil is truly necessary? Will my carbon/stainless knives ever rust if they are kept un-oiled but dry? Thanks for the oil answer also.
 
Yes, rust is iron oxide. Dry air will rust steel since it has oxygen. Water just does the job faster. All the oils and coatings do is block oxygen. If you want to stop rust then it is simple- just block the oxygen. :). Wait that might not be so simple. I use eezox but froglube claims to be safe to eat.
 
I'm not too sure what the humidity is like in Washington, but here in North Carolina it's almost never below at least 60% humidity in the summer.. and gets up to ~90%. So, in those conditions I guess that nothing is ever totally "dry" (especially if carried in a sweaty pocket). However, I haven't had any issues with rust. I wouldn't worry about your stainless knives at all unless you're going to be in nasty saltwater conditions, and even then I don't think a cursory exposure will do much (but I'm not an expert). I use Tuf-glide or mineral on my non-stainless knives occasionally but haven't been anal about it.

I think you can get by without oiling if you just wipe your blade down when necessary. Even then, a little surface rust isn't difficult to remove.
 
Awesome thanks for the help, never knew maintaining your knives was so much work. :rolleyes:
 
MEJ said:
Will my carbon/stainless knives ever rust if they are kept un-oiled but dry?
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It depends on your environment, (probably) your body chemistry, how you use it, etc. Some guys like me almost never oil their knives and never get any rust, and other guys will make their knives rust by looking at them. So it just depends. All you can do is experiment and see what works for you. I never do anything to protect the blade, but on rare, rare occasions will hit the pivot with some WD-40.
 
I rarely, if ever use mine for food. I use Tuf-Glide myself. Mainly use it to lube moving parts. Sometimes spread some on the blade with a finger and let it dry, since it is a "Dry Lubricant and Protectant. If I were going to use one for food, I would simply rinse it in water and wipe it off, then go for it. Not sure it's necessary though, as it does dry totally.
 
Food grade mineral oil for a knife seeing food prep use. I also soak any natural handle material knives in it once a year or so. For rust protection I usually use some RustFree, which works pretty darn well, but you wouldn't want to use it on a knife seeing kitchen duty.

A patina and regular use will definitely keep the rust at bay for the most part but, if you're like me and sweat a lot and regularly have to deal with 90+% humidity, its good to have a little extra protection.
 
powernoodle said:
It depends on your environment, (probably) your body chemistry, how you use it, etc. Some guys like me almost never oil their knives and never get any rust, and other guys will make their knives rust by looking at them. So it just depends. All you can do is experiment and see what works for you. I never do anything to protect the blade, but on rare, rare occasions will hit the pivot with some WD-40.
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What is the humidity like in your bunker? That is definitely reassuring, some day i wont be so ODD about my knives, someday.

cbxer55 said:
I rarely, if ever use mine for food. I use Tuf-Glide myself. Mainly use it to lube moving parts. Sometimes spread some on the blade with a finger and let it dry, since it is a "Dry Lubricant and Protectant. If I were going to use one for food, I would simply rinse it in water and wipe it off, then go for it. Not sure it's necessary though, as it does dry totally.
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I always thought you had to apply soap to thoroughly get oil off? The only oil i have currently is tuf-glide which i only really use on my pivots and sometimes when i store my carbon blades. Works pretty well.
 
MEJ said:
I always thought you had to apply soap to thoroughly get oil off? The only oil i have currently is tuf-glide which i only really use on my pivots and sometimes when i store my carbon blades. Works pretty well.
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Tuf-Glide is advertised as "oil-free"... I'm not really sure what it is, but it works well and I have used it on knives that I have used for minor food prep without issue.
 
I use lubricants and protectants on my carbon steel knives. Usually a little Eezox (very little, doesn't take much) on the blades and pivots, and sometimes some WD-40 Silicone spray. I've done a drop of 3-in-1 oil on the joints before but it seems to remain kind of oily and can leak out in my pocket later. The WD-40 Silicone really doesn't leave much residue, nor does Eezox. Patina or no patina, I do the same.

Stainless knives get some WD-40 Silicone on the pivots if they need lubrication for ease of opening / closing, usually only after I fully wash them in hot soapy water.

I've got some food-grade silicone spray (Weston brand) for use with a meat grinder. I've tried it on knives before but I like the WD-40 better.
 
MEJ said:
But my question is wether using oil is truly necessary?.
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It depends on the steel, storage, and climate circumstances. For instance, O1 and A2 rust but if taken care of in a timely manner the rust can be removed with a scotch brite pad. Also, you can leave these steels in a dry place for weeks before rust will develop. If you leave cpm 3v or 4v unattended you're screwed as they pit. The point is these are higher maintenance steels than 01 or A2 because you have to keep an eye on them. Oiling is what buys you time away from monitoring.

Last year we had drought conditions. I didn't have to oil my knives. I doubt people in AZ would have to oil their knives as often, dry climate. This year it's been humid here. Rust will develop within hours of handling my knives. I keep them oiled.

If you use your knives for food perp use mineral oil. Ballistol is also nice, it won't harm you if ingested, but it isn't tasteless like mineral oil.
 
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I use japanese sword oil.

its 100% edible and no smell.

I use these on my work knives (carbon chef knives).

I believe its easy to find using a seatch engine, its about 5-10 dollars for a 6oz bottle which ive had for years.
 
HwangJino said:
I use japanese sword oil.

its 100% edible and no smell.

I use these on my work knives (carbon chef knives).

I believe its easy to find using a seatch engine, its about 5-10 dollars for a 6oz bottle which ive had for years.
Click to expand...

What are the ingredients? I dont think i would want to eat to much of it lol.
 
First off, I’ve never had any rust issues (so I’ve never really had to oil my blades), but I did have a free day off, so I decided to give Tuf-Glide a try.. Seems like it could work good, I oiled the pivot area, and coated the blade.. Planning on coating my other knives another day. I do like how it dried on the blade.. I can’t stand other products with an oil base.
 
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