Oils ?

J

JAMerolle

Joined
Jan 14, 2012
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Hey guys can anyone list oils that work for both leather and steel maintenance . Any feedback is welcome
 
+1 to both. Balistol is mineral oil based. Food grade mineral oil is common in most larger grocery stores or pharmacies.


-Xander
 
Is mineral oil baby oil ? Also is needsfoot ( not sure of spelling) something
That can be used for both leather and steel
 
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JAMerolle said:
Is mineral oil baby oil ? Also is needsfoot ( not sure of spelling) something
That can be used for both leather and steel
Click to expand...

Yes mineral oil and baby oil are the same. Baby oil usually has a scent added.

It is great stuff for knives, I always have a few bottles around. I get the unscented food grade variety, most hardware stores, drugstores or pharmacies have it.


Neatsfoot Oil - I have never tried it on steel but every leather sheath that comes out of my shop gets drenched in the stuff.

As an experiment I have an O1 steel knife stored in a leather sheath; the sheath was treated with pure neatsfoot oil and the knife has never shown a sign of rust.

By the way, there aren't any Neats running around! Neatsfoot oil is rendered from cow shins and feet.
 
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Neatsfoot oil is cow footbone oil. A lot of stuff sold as neetsfoot oil is a blend of several oils. It thickens and air cures over time. It would not be good on metal.
 
They boil down the bones from a cow's lower legs ( not the hooves - they make gelatin) and get the oil.

It is called Neatsfoot oil because the oil was reclaimed from oxen in old England, when those beasts were called a "Neat". There is some disagreement if it referred to all horned oxen, or only those who had their horns clipped. Either way, when the bovine was dispatched, every part was reduced to some sort of product.

Today most neatsfoot oil is sold as "Neatsfoot oil compound" which is a blend of 100% neatsfoot oil and petroleum or mineral oils. The 100% stuff is what you want on a raw sheath.
 
Oils tend to soften leather, which may be fine for things like baseball gloves. For sheaths, I've found that a wax like SnowSeal works better. It stiffens the leather and also seals the pores against penetration by moisture. I apply it inside and out (taking the sheath apart if necessary) and melting in at least a couple of coats until the leather is saturated. I suppose you could use SnowSeal on the blade, too, but I've been using BreakFree on my knife blades for years with complete satisfaction. That combination works for me.
 
Well if the knife goes into a sheath that is oiled it makes sense to choose an oil that works for both oil and steel, considering the steel is in contact with the leather while in the sheath. I have been using 3 in 1 oil which seemed to mess my sheath up and produced a horrible smell. Thus the question which one works for both.
 
Ballistol was formulated before WWI for the german army. It was formulated for soldiers to have only one oil to carry. It works well on steel, wood, & leather. It has good anti-corrosion properties and also preserves wood and leather very well. The germans knew what they were doing when they made this stuff. It also has another inportant property which is it will never gum up or turn into varnish. Ballistol and Rennaissance wax are all I use.
 
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