Food Safe Oil or Normal

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Witterings

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Mar 13, 2012
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Would you use food safe oil to lube a folding knife used for food prep or just a small dab of whatever normal oil you have to hand.

If food safe what do you use .... most options seem to be a large ish amount for wood boards that would last 500 years after I'm gone ... I only need 2 drops ;)
 
I use Ballistol on carbon blades that may cut food, I don't lube folders. There is also the
mineral oil sold as laxative at your pharmacy.
 
If you use it for food prep, yes I would definitely use a food grade/safe oil. I use Citadel Black and have been pretty happy with it.
 
Food safe only. Preferably something that won't spoil too. Mineral oil usp is the ideal choice. But frog lube and other types work too. Frog lube is coconut oil based.

Edci is said to work well and is supposed to be food safe.
 
I use frog lube liquid for cleaning gunk off of blades . I still use rem oil or CRK grease for the pivot.
 
BellaBlades said:
I use frog lube liquid for cleaning gunk off of blades . I still use rem oil or CRK grease for the pivot.
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FrogLube CLP paste is convenient for applying to blades. FrogLube products are touted as using exclusively "bio-based" and food grade ingredients. Interesting because it's advertised as a firearms care product, but I don't know anyone who stirs his coffee with a handgun. Great for knives, though.
 
Lol. True. I stick with rem oil for my firearms.

And use the frog lube for knives and kitchen/ fishing application's.

Btw. Chuck Norris stirs his coffee with a hand gun .
 
I would only use something stated as food safe and mineral oil is a very common food-safe oil that is cheap. It's used on cutting boards a lot also. Some of the oils are technically non-toxic but if you're going for a food use going for a food-safe oil is best. I think I got a gallon of food-grade, maybe USP (pharmaceutical grade), for like $15. Will last me a lot time and I use it to help preserve wood too.
 
JimMD said:
FrogLube CLP paste is convenient for applying to blades. FrogLube products are touted as using exclusively "bio-based" and food grade ingredients.
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Food grade isn't hard when you use almost 100% coconut oil.
Coconut oil is cheaper and theoretically just as good.
Haven't had froglube go rancid, but any "bio based" lube should be re-applied frequently; it's designed to break down, so it's not good for storage. Mineral oil has a big advantage there.
3-in1 oil isn't as sexy as a more tenacious CLP, but it works OK and doesn't have anything weird in it. Swallowing petroleum spirits and solvents isn't a good idea, so it's not "food grade," but everything that's left behind when the solvents evaporate is safe.

Honestly, though... What compound are you going to find in a CLP that's dangerous on food contact? "Petroleum distillates" are the compounds listed on most MSDSs, and the danger is chemical pneumonitis: you inhale a bunch of the solvent if you swallow it and breathe it in while vomiting.

The biggest (only?) risk presented by most CLP products is inhalation of solvents while you're applying them. More people should probably worry about that, and far fewer people should worry about food contact with whatever protective residue is left over after the solvents are gone.
 
Fixed blade, so it's easier to clean as food won't get caught in the pivot. A few years back there was a thread on the forum talking about the use of a folder on the traditional part of the forum and a chef and a few other knowledgeable people chimmed in about the risks if it does t get properly cleaned.

If it's dedicated to food and it must be a folder, something you don't feel the need to lube and can hose out would be my preference. And thoughly clean it.
 
FWIW, it seems that CRK's fluorinated grease is non-toxic and is about as cheap as these products come. (You can get more oz:$ buying Krytox tubes, but nobody needs that much pivot lube.)

The reason I still use gun CLP sprays is that they make cleaning easier. (I still don't have an air compressor handy most days.) The protectants also seem to work better than most oils/waxes (though every test I read about picks something slightly different, so there's clearly no catch-all product.)
 
Bob6794 said:
If it's dedicated to food and it must be a folder, something you don't feel the need to lube and can hose out would be my preference. And thoughly clean it.
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++ this. I think the biggest risk of all for food prep is leftover food growing a colony of something nasty inside your folder.
 
JacksonKnives said:
++ this. I think the biggest risk of all for food prep is leftover food growing a colony of something nasty inside your folder.
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It's only for occasional food use and whilst mainly aimed at cutting bread / a bit of butter I know it'll also end up getting used for sausages etc on a barbie as the knife in question is mainly for taking to the beach in a rucksack.

About 80% of the suggestions made just aren't so available here in the UK but reading the responses have managed to find a Liquid Paraffin which I believe is a mineral oil
http://www.lloydspharmacy.com/en/care-liquid-paraffin-150ml

and also a coconut oil
https://www.aldi.co.uk/coco-loco-coconut-oil/p/070350029044100

Both shops are in totally opposite directions but I'll pick one of these depending which direction I need to go in 1st :-)

I only bought it relatively recently but it's for a little Whitby knife
https://www.rcpitstop.co.uk/whitby-...t-edc-non-locking-knife-drop-point-7943-p.asp

Absolutely beautiful for the money and just feels right in the hand ... BUT ... haven't had it long and it's "scratchy" as I open and close it which is a shame.

Cheers for everyone's help!!
 
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"Non-toxic" doesn't equate to "food grade,' but it DOES mean that if you ingest some of it it won't harm you. If you are putting an entire cup of oil on your blades, certainly a tea spoon or two will come off on your food. But if, like most folks, you are using a drop or two, rubbing it in over the entire blade, then wiping off the excess, a scant few molecules may come off on your food and you will never be aware of it, health-wise or taste-wise. If more than that IS coming off, you are using way too much to protect your blade. Every person who has ever worked under a car has, on occasion, gotten a mouthful of motor oil, and lived to tell the tale.


Stitchawl
 
On the pivot ?
I don't lick the pivot.
Do you lick your pivot ?

I use Starrett Insturment oil on all my folding knives.
I wash the blade with soap and water before and after use on food.
Even the carbon steel blades I put nothing on after washing but a towel.
Love that patina . . . but no rust here in the Wild Wild West so no oil on the blade.
 
Bob6794 said:
Fixed blade, so it's easier to clean as food won't get caught in the pivot.
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Totally this ^^^ if one has to get down in there and goopy . . . like those squirrels being cleaned in the sink the other night.
Wit a folder ! ! !
Why ? ? ?
What ever. I know . . . I've read the thread about the Muskrat folder for Muskrats.
In a word : Yuuuuuuuuuuuuck.
 
Not to mention gettin pocket lent all over aunt Bunnys' sweet potato pie. Mmmmm....pocket lent.
 
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