Recommend Mineral Oil?

knarfeng said:
Not everybody uses their pocket knives for food prep.
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Exactly. That's why I said "may prep food with"... and "may see some kitchen duty." Realistically speaking, though, any knife may be possibly used for some type of food prep (planned or not), so I say better to be safe than sorry. Just my 2 cents..
 
According to the Ballistol web site, "

Ballistol does not contain ingredients considered hazardous by the FDA. It does not contain any ingredients which may be harmful for warm-blooded organisms, reptiles or aquatic organisms"

That being said Balistol shooters is a horrible ideal, but the amount you would consume from eating an apple cut with a Balistol lubed knife shouldn't be enough to cause any harm. After all you don't get a laxative effect from mineral oil lubed blades.
 
I use Mineral from Rite Aid for both knives and food with no problems.!** If it is good enough for the guy behind the
counter ~~ it is good enough for me safe wise.!**
 
hunter s thompson said:
According to the Ballistol web site, "Ballistol does not contain ingredients considered hazardous by the FDA. It does not contain any ingredients which may be harmful for warm-blooded organisms, reptiles or aquatic organisms"
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Thanks for the clarification, hunter - that's good to know! I always thought it was harmful if swallowed.
 
I appreciate all of the answers. Local supermarket had what I needed. Looks like I'm good to go.
 
prisoner6 said:
I appreciate all of the answers. Local supermarket had what I needed. Looks like I'm good to go.
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Still a bit confused on the "food grade". Probably safe to assume that this applies to the drug store stuff that is used as a laxative, correct? Is there a type at the grocery store marked "food grade"? Where do you find it in the store? Baking aisle? With cooking oil? Over the counter drug section?

I recently did a forced patina on a Mora I keep in my truck. It came out great, btw, but I wanted to just do a tiny bit of oil on it to avoid future rust. I did a very light wipe with a drop of 3 in 1, but it dawns on me that this knife will likely gut out a trout or two at some point in time, as well as potentially slice an apple.

Damn Blade Forums......... always making me think..........
 
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harlycarly said:
Still a bit confused on the "food grade". Probably safe to assume that this applies to the drug store stuff that is used as a laxative, correct? Is there a type at the grocery store marked "food grade"? Where do you find it in the store? Baking aisle? With cooking oil? Over the counter drug section?

I recently did a forced patina on a Mora I keep in my truck. It came out great, btw, but I wanted to just do a tiny bit of oil on it to avoid future rust. I very light wipe with a drop of 3 in 1, but it downs on me that this knife like likely gut out a trout or two at some point in time, as well as potentially slice an apple.

Damn Blade Forums......... always making me think..........
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That's the stuff, found alongside the other laxative products in the pharmacy section. It'll be marked as 'USP' grade. You could also look for the type marketed/labelled as 'cutting board' oil, or 'butcher block' oil. It's all mineral oil, and also rated to be safe when potentially in contact with food or food-prep utensils.


David
 
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I would not be afraid to use my pocket knife to cut apples or clean fish or cut a steak even if I used something like 3 in 1 on the joint. After all, I do keep my blade clean and dry not runny wet with 3 in 1 or mineral oil. I would think any possibility of contamination of food to be very small compared to the amount of foreign material allowed in our food, and pesticide contamination of fruits and vegetables.

Not to mention the acetaminophen and aspartame that we consume in our food and/or medications. I'm not saying that you can use anything you want, but why do we think that our knives don't see more serious contamination potential in manufacturing and packaging?

If I think my knife is dirty, then I wash it and dry it before using it on food. I clean it again after using it on food to protect it from the harsh environment of food. Then I re-lubricate the joint, wipe the blade with oil, then wipe off oils and put it away or back in my pocket as needed. Occasionally, I will thoroughly clean it just to get any dust, pocket lint, or other pocket nastiness off of it and out of it.

I think it is prudent to use something that is not so toxic that you have to wear a respirator and chemical gloves and lab apron to handle it. For example, PCB might make a decent knife preservative, but it is so toxic and chemically stable that it has been banned from manufacture.

Please don't think I am saying that "it's okay to use anything you want", because I'm not. Ballistol was mentioned above and it is a good lubricant, but I won't use it on my knives because I think it stinks (literally).

Ed J
 
Thanks for the clarification on this. Agreed, we probably won't be slathering our blades with 3 in 1 or the like but it makes sense to be mindful not to contaminate our food any more than it already has been.

All this reminds me of a time at a hunting camp where I sharpened a knife or two for other guys there. I had cooked up a delicious venison roast and one of the guys used his Buck to slice up the roast. There was a bit of residual oil from the stone on it and it was awful. And yes.... it stunk (literally).

Going to have to go out and get some USP stuff.
 
We're just a bunch of regular guys here.

What?
 
Two types of mineral oil:
USP mineral oil, which is thicker and for a laxative
Baby oil, which is thinner and easier to use

I use baby oil
 
I was just looking at the MSDS info for 'Johnson's Baby Oil, Original' (link to info on NIH site below). A curious thing I noticed is, the mineral oil making up >99% of the formula is listed there as 'Mineral Oil USP'. The 'USP' identifier carries the same implication as with any other 'food-safe' mineral oil. This would seem to make a lot of sense, in a product designed for use on an infant's skin. I wouldn't worry about the oil as a hazard for ingestion, assuming common-sense use of it (same as for the 'laxative' grade).

Having said that, I still wouldn't use it on a food-prep blade, just because the 'fragrance' simply tastes horrid; it's bitter stuff. Don't ask me how I know... :D

http://householdproducts.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/household/brands?tbl=brands&id=10001060


David
 
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I have used mineral oil also for years and don't trust it for rust prevention. I can tell you with experience it,s not very good for repelling rust where you can't see it forming in the joints and springs. I would be cautious with carbon steel knives.
 
Last time I looked, "most" and "not everybody" were Synonyms.
In both cases it does not do well to assume that everyone has the same requirements.
 
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