Lanolin,.... O Lanolin......Here Lanolin

Originally posted by firkin
-Anhydrous may (dunno whether lanolin absorbs water from the air) take up water in humid conditions causing swelling.(Ferguson, does the packaging with yours say anything about this?)
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Your question got me to surfing the net and I think I know less than I did before.:) Lanolin on the skin act as an occlusive layer (barrier?) that prevents water from evaporating from the outer layer of skin. This prevents skin from drying out. It still allows sweating though. It also will absorb up to twice it's weight of water. I found no references to it being hygroscopic, or absorbing water from the air. It is also an emulsifier which allows oil and water to mix. There were recipes for making hand lotion with the main ingredients being lanolin, minerel oil, glycerin and water. Water has to be added to lanolin slowly.

How all this applies to horn handle care I'm not sure. Maybe an emulsion of lanolin, mineral oil, and water? Somebody smarter than me is gonna have to figure this out.:cool: Maybe we could just use Hooflex?

"LANOLIN is an extremely effective emollient in restoring and maintaining the all important hydration (moisture balance) of the stratum corneum, and so prevents drying and chapping of the skin. Equally important, it does not alter the skin's normal transpiration. Lanolin has been shown to cause the water in the skin to build up to its normal level of 10-30%, by retarding without completely inhibiting trans-epidermal moisture loss. Lanolin has the unique property of absorbing twice its own weight of water. Lanolin has the physical properties of increasing adhesion to dry skin, and forming protective films on the skin. Lanolin is compatible with most fats and waxes used in cosmetics and pharmaceutical preparations. Lanolin is self emulsifying, producing very stable water/oil emulsions with water and is often used in this hydrous form."


Steve
 
Originally posted by ferguson ..... Maybe we could just use Hooflex?
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Probably.
But I always want to try something different, experiment.
Probably anhydrous would be the better starting point.
Then you could control exactly the moisture content, if any.
 
Your question got me to surfing the net and I think I know less than I did before.
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Ain't it fun how reading and "thinking" can make you dumber???;)

Any way I was sorta thinking of horn in the same way I think of wood. Might be the wrong thing to do, at least for lanolin. Seems right for mineral oil though.

One experiment could be to spread some of the anhydrous stuff on a lightweight surface, and see if the weight changes with humidity/temp.

But it sounds like it's not hygroscopic, and water has to be "beaten" in to form an emulsion. So my guess is that it won't promote swelling by absorbing water from the air. Working in hydrated lanolin probably will promote swelling.

Maybe a good way to think of it is that it will slow down moisture migration, so that the stress is less. Andf that the hydrated form allows for controlled introduction of moisture.
 
Fed,

Everything you said about jungle environment and horn makes sense--for water buffalo horn.

What about horn from animals that live in other environments like plain/savanna or desert? Any idea if those horns behave differently?? [I'm presuming that your collecting interests make it unlikely that you own many things with horn from desert animals.)
 
Firkin, all I got is either water buffalo horn, a couple ivory pieces, and bone pieces. Nothing from the dessert, or North America so no idea how the stuff behaves. So many knives, so little money:( Though, I would think that there may be some similarities?

As for horn care, and all this talk about lanolin, sounds like you guys are on your way to making your own lotion. Water+mineral oil+lanolin=lotion? I gotta confess, being the cheapskate I am instead of hoof-flex, Ive been using lubriderm lotion on all my bone/horn/ivory pieces for the past couple years. Figured it would help moisturize the stuff, was cheap/readily available, had lanolin, and wasnt torture to put on as some products are (smells, washing hands, etc...) Though, when I first started collecting I always had used just baby oil to prevent the horn from drying out, and that was how caring for horn was described to me. Anyways the lotion seems to work well, not as protectin as the oil, but more nourishin? If that made any sense.
 
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