Olive oil

OmegaJuicebox said:
Can olive oil be used to prevent rust on high carbon steel blades? :confused:
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yes but i believe it can get funky and sour over time, mineral oil is another good one and i use it on all my carbon steel knives, works great and you can buy it at the grocery or drugstore, and its food safe:thumbup:
ivan
 
i use olive oil on all my carbon steel blades both outdoor and kitchen. never had a problem with it souring. it's food safe and all natural! i also use it on my older guns. the old timers used it and called it "sweet oil".
 
Olive oil is still an oil, so of course it can be used to lubricate or prevent corrosion. Your contention is that it may turn rancid over time which is a valid concern. I'd have to agree with skimmerhorn and say its perfectly fine for outdoor and kithchen usage. Its only for long term storage that poses a problem. Olive oil is rather thin anyway compared to other oils and will dissapate before it goes rancid.

Ive even tried Olive oil on firearms and in an NYC winter it will disappear rather quickly. But I kinda expected that and wanted to see how it would hold up.
 
IMO there is very little risk of olive oil turning rancid. More so there is a risk of it gumming up like previous posters have mentioned. If you put a bottle of olive oil out in the cold for a couple days, it will turn milky and probably a good deal more viscous; you can imagine more or less the same thing happening on your knives over time if you are not using them.

On the other hand if you're using olive oil for your personal knife, or knives that get rubbed down regularly, there is absolutely nothing wrong with it.
 
Olive oil is different from other vegetable oils. It is monounsaturated, which has something to do with the molecular structure. I have about a half ounce of extra virgin (whatever that means, but it's really good stuff) olive oil which has been in an open jar (covered with a Kleenex tissue to keep out dust) for a couple of years. It has thickened a tiny bit but has no smell at all. It has even lost its original olive oil smell. After this length of time, a polyunsaturated oil like canola would probably be a thick, yucky mess. Anyhow, olive oil should be perfectly fine for knives, even those which are used for food preparation.

If you ever have some polyunsaturated oil which has gotten rancid, it's best to throw it out. It's not good for anything, and it is carcinogenic if you eat it. Most vegetable oil (except maybe olive oil) should probably be kept refrigerated after it is opened.
 
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