Olive oil as knife lube?

V

Velocity223

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Jan 15, 2013
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Over the weekend my buddy and I had a much needed sharpening session and overall knife maintenance discussion. He convinced me to use olive oil to lube my knives and now my ZT 0200 and 0350 are glass smooth, even better than the day I bought them. My only concern is that I have seen vegetable oils get kind of crusty around the bottle caps. Will olive oil do the same over time? Has anyone else done this or am I the only one?
 
Olive oil (and other natural food oils) will degrade and go rancid over time (sticky/gummy). Usually becomes slightly acidic also (think rust/corrosion), as it breaks down. I'd avoid it personally, especially in the pivots on higher-end knives.

It works well enough on fixed blades that get used for food prep, and therefore cleaned thoroughly and re-oiled frequently. So long as the oil stays somewhat 'fresh' with cleaning and re-application, it'd do in a pinch. My mother has regularly maintained the walnut handles on her Chicago Cutlery kitchen knives with vegetable oil for at least ~30 years or so, with only a little bit of verdigris (green corrosion from the acidic oil) showing up around the brass rivets. Aside from that, no issues there.


David
 
Thanks, I will definitely keep an eye on it, and will probably try something else next time I take it apart.
 
I agree with David - the olive oil will eventually turn rancid (as will many vegetable and nut oils) and can pit the metal components of the knife over time. Personally, I would flush the pivot with a heaping helping of mineral oil to flush out the olive oil and then work out all the excess oil.

TedP
 
Use mineral oil instead. You can get a 16 oz bottle for a couple dollars at pretty much any grocery store in the medicine area. It's safe to ingest, won't go rancid, and it does offer some corrosion protection. You might look into a specialty oil like nanoil or something similar instead, though, for better performance.
 
I have used mineral oil for years on carbon steel knives used for food, but recently picked up some Froglube based upon some recommendations here and I am quite impressed with it. It's food safe, smells nice & minty and much more corrosion resistant than mineral oil. After a positive initial trial on kitchen blades I'm now trying it out on some of my carbon steel EDC folders.
 
I've always used mineral oil for the reasons stated above, but will look into some frog lube. I didn't know it was good safe.
 
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