JackoH
25th February 2000, 09:39 AM
I read somewhere that a mixture of 80%good quality olive oil to 20% beeswax by volume,melted in a micro-wave oven and allowed to cool to a creamy consistency gives a great non-toxic finish for turned items such as baby rattles salad bowls etc.
I also read somewhere else that olive oil is not a good thing to use as it goes rancid! Anyone have any experience/comments. Or should I just stop reading and try it anyway?
ubeaut
26th February 2000, 10:21 AM
G'day John
I think you will find that most oils like olive, peanut and all the other vegetable oils will go rancid after a while. They also fight against the beeswax keeping the whole thing soft and sticky. It will also attract moisture etc.
If you want a truely nontoxic finish for rattles, bowls, etc. get yourself some Shellawax Cream (click here) (http://www.ubeaut.com.au/cream.htm) We really don't recommend it for salad bowls, it is more for bowls that will contain dry foods like nuts, chips, biscuits, etc. however there are a lot of people who do use it for salad bowls. If you do use it for salad bowls I suggest you give it a wipe out from time to time with a good oil like, sesame, walnut, olive, or similar, the choice of oil could also be used to enhanse the flavour of the salad. Do not wash the bowl as you normally would but wipe it out with clean damp, soapy, dish cloth and dry immediately then oil it.
Probably the safest thing to use on a salad bowl is polyurethane, it is basically plastic and gives close to complete protection from moisture. Finish it off with EEE-Ultra Shine (click here) (http://www.ubeaut.com.au/eee.htm) and it will not look or feel like plastic any more.
There are other solutions to the salad bowl problem including some organic oils but most are time consuming and and only partly work. I would also be a bit concerned that some of the oils may taint the salad.
Hope this helps a little.
Cheers
Neil http://ubb.ubeaut.com.au/ubb/smile.gif