How long does a coating of wd40 last?

I find the "food safe" thing that everybody seems to be so concerned about very amusing.
Unless you are rubbing arsenic or cyanide on your blade, just wipe it off before you use it.
I doubt that there are many lubricants so toxic that a simple wipe wouldn't make it safe.
 
Mo2 said:
There are alot of tests on YouTube on these. One reason to use mineral oil over Wd40 is that it's food safe and doesn't leave a nasty off color residue. It is mineral oil though.

Use whatever one you like. Either way it's not that long lasting in many of the tests done. It will likely be good enough for your use whichever you choose.

I use fluid film or mineral oil. I've also used wax for long term storage. Fluid film lasts longer than mineral oil, but it's lanolin based. While food safe some people are allergic.to lanolin (wool and sheep etc). It's not idea to get in your pivot so for folders take care to just rub it on the blade.

Wax is the idea solution for long term storage on fixed blades. You dont really want to get wax in the pivot area of a folder.

Frog lube is basically coconut oil that doesn't go rancid and it works good too.

Tuff cloth or Tuff glide dry lube works but it's technically food safe after it dries after a period of time... But if it chips off you don't want to eat it, it's toxic. So you kind of have to be careful in that respect.

I'm not certain there is a food safe long lasting solution. The most common is mineral oil cause it's really cheap and the bottle will last a long time for coating your blades as often as needed and food safe without the chemicals.
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Sorry, I didn't notice that 'food safe' was a requirement for storage.
 
I’ve found Camellia oil to work well for both sharpening and storage.
 
stitchawl said:
Yet you mentioned 'Food safe' four times in your post. The original poster only asked for the efficacy of WD-40 in storage, not its addition to 'Larousse Gastronomique.'


Stitchawl
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I don't really care. I elaborated on it. Deal with it. Do you feel so strongly about what I've mentioned That you want to argue about it.
 
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I will start by saying there is no doubt in my mind that for the 2 week timeframe you stated wd40 will more than suffice. As long as your storing in a dry place. Wd 40 is a good rust preventative measure for storing but to me its more of a short term solution. I like wd 40,mineral oil and 3 in 1 oil is even better but for storage and a great protective coat i prefer seal 1 clp.

https://www.collectorknives.net/shop/accessories/seal1-clp-plus-liquid-knife-protector/

I know no one asked for an alternative i just thought i wpould offer up an alternative that is better in my experience.
 
brando555 said:
I'm pretty sure the formula has changed over the years but its basically mineral oil and petroleum jelly thinned out with some solvents.
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yeah, I was going by the msds, which you have to research the cas numbers each give. It has a few added components, but basically 90% kerosene.
 
WD-40 is at least 50% mineral spirits. Mineral spirits certainly burn and so does WD-40 liquid, but given that it evaporates rather quickly, I wonder for how long it will actually be flammable. Wikipedia also has an article just for WD-40. WD-40 doesn’t contain Kerosene, and certainly not 90% of it.

Regardless of these facts, I doubt that you actually need to use something like WD-40 to coat your knives, when something as simple as Camellia oil will do, but I see no reason that the oil left by the WD-40 won’t remain for a very long time if left untouched.
 
now said:
WD-40 is at least 50% mineral spirits. Mineral spirits certainly burn and so does WD-40 liquid, but given that it evaporates rather quickly, I wonder for how long it will actually be flammable. Wikipedia also has an article just for WD-40. WD-40 doesn’t contain Kerosene, and certainly not 90% of it.

Regardless of these facts, I doubt that you actually need to use something like WD-40 to coat your knives, when something as simple as Camellia oil will do, but I see no reason that the oil left by the WD-40 won’t remain for a very long time if left untouched.
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There is good reason to use WD-40 which is to ensure water is displaced by oil. Like Bill and Stitchawl said, it leaves mineral oil after the solvent evaporates.

Another option is to ensure surface is clean & dry, then apply Petroleum Jelly, i.e.Vaseline. Wipe off the excess (it doesn’t have to be visible) and it also protects well.
 
Yes, of course, WD as in Water Displacer, but why wouldn’t a good wipe with a cloth remove any water in this case? It’s not in any hard-to-reach areas.

Yeah, you might as well use Vaseline, which is a lot cheaper. Or some wax.
 
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