Thread: Oils ain't Oilsy

Hi Daryl
I have been using Howards Orange oil they make several different blends also there is a food safe mineral oil.

Cheers Tony

Try this. Just made for the job! CWS Store - Food Safe Plus 250ml | Carroll's Woodcraft Supplies

Originally Posted by Mulgabill

Try this. Just made for the job! CWS Store - Food Safe Plus 250ml | Carroll's Woodcraft Supplies

What he said!
Orange oil is nowhere near as safe as Foodsafe made by the Grand Poobah and his beautiful boss!

What have you done that you need to humble yourself to pauline?????

Originally Posted by Christopha

What he said!
Orange oil is nowhere near as safe as Foodsafe made by the Grand Poobah and his beautiful boss!

When I first started turning, I was told to NEVER put olive oil on a bowl because it would go sour. Of course, I then ran into a turner, and that was all he ever used, and he never had any real problems, except once with some really cheap canola oil. Over the years, from observing, it seems like non hardening/curing oils 'can' go sour, but don't always. As near as I can tell, there are a couple of reasons why.

One, bowls need to be out in the open so they can breath. I think we all know what happens to a piece of damp wood when left in a sealed plastic bag. Rot!

Two, seems to be that if food/oil, and other stuff builds up on the inside of a bowl, then, that can go sour, especially if the bowl can't breath. For long term care, I just rinse off with clean water, and some times use a plastic scrubby pad. If I feel some food build up, then I take some soap and water, or you can use table salt and a wedge of lemon or lime which do the same thing, emulsify the oils, and kill germs. Oils that have soaked in seem to pose little or no problem, as long as there is no build up, and the bowl can breath. This is probably way more sure to happen if you use a curing oil before the bowl is sold, which for me is a walnut oil. I just don't like any of the furniture oils with solvents and/or driers added. If I can't eat it out of the can, I don't want it on a bowl I am going to use. I did have one person who was sensitive to tolulene (a solvent) that it does not all evaporate/cure out. For most, the levels are not enough to bother us, but for others it can be problematic. Some put nothing on their bowls, and I never do anything beyond my initial application.

robo hippy





robo hippy

Mineral oil for human consumption can be bought at a pharmacy.

When I went down to the shed this morning the mineral oil i have is U-Beaut it was right next to the orange oil but I didn't see the label last night

Cheers Tony

Hello Daryl 1,

Agree with Paul G, mineral oil (hospital standard) from your local chemist will do the trick and not expensive. I am not so sure about orange oil
being long-term food safe. Drillit.

Mineral oil is about the least likely oil to cause any allergic reaction, about the worst that can happen is if you drink it by accident you will get a case of the trots.

The problem with 'vegetable' oils is that you really have little or no control over what has gone into them, unless you grow & process your own.

I think we all know about linseed oil and 'heavy metal salts' added to make it polymerise quickly. Unfortunately there are people out there who will fold up & stop breathing if exposed to even tiny amounts of oil from 'nuts' - and then there is what constitutes a 'nut', and the amount of nut oil needed to trigger a reaction can be tiny indeed, possibly just the pressing or packaging machinery not being cleaned properly can be enough for some people.

Most woodware that I have seen that has gone 'off' has had a thick coating of 'gunk' on it, it seems that the former owners have just kept slopping on endless layers of whatever oily stuff is around - olive, EVO, bacon dripping, whatever. And never bothered to clean it. A decent cleaning routine will keep most such problems at bay.

Flaxseed oil for human consumption can also be used for salad bowls. It is the same as raw linseed oil and takes longer to polymerize but does eventually harden.

Linseed oil - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Pharmacy grade mineral oil is also available from the larger super market chains here. In Australia it is also referred to as Liquid Paraffin B.P. (I think the BP stands for British Pharmacopoeia). Same stuff that is used in baby oil, usually with a fragrance added.

The Doctor did a demo for our club once and explained a lot about the differences in oils, how they cure, and why the stuff in the store is different than the bowl oil stuff. Of course it made sense to me then but I forgot most of it (You can teach an old dog new tricks, he just doesn't remember for very long). I think there is an explanation here if you look. I do use his oil, but am not really sold on the 'micro-aggregated' wax stuff yet.

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