Where has the Linseed Oil gone?

[Celt_Ginger]

Is it just me, or has it become hard to get Linseed oil? The only type I can find now is the purified type sold in art shops. Is this any good for treating knife and axe handles or is the type that "used" to be sold in builders merchants the best to use?

 

[Dougster]

Try axminster, they do it in good size containers.

 

[Bernie Garland]

You can buy it off the shelf at b+q

Bernie

 

[rancid badger]

Yep, B&Q, Homebase and Focus all stock it
R.B.

 

[DoctorSpoon]

If you're more rural, try your local agricultural merchants. That's how we buy ours - it's not cheap but it's a really nice cold pressed linseed that's sold for feeding to horses.

 

[Toddy]

Good point It is also sold by paint and varnish suppliers, who since the advent of the new fashion wooden flooring instead of fitted carpets have had a huge boost in sales.
I think it cost me£14 for 5lts last time I bought it. I later saw it in tiny bottles in an *art* shop and was horrified at the price.

cheers,
Toddy

 

[Celt_Ginger]

It must be a Northern Ireland thing. B&Q over here do not appear to have it. I live out in the country so i'll try a local agri merchant.
Thanks for all the suggestions.

 

[combatblade1]

B&Q in ballymena has it mate so does the one at abbey centre.

Paul

 

[TheGreenMan]

...The only type I can find now is the purified type sold in art shops. Is this any good for treating knife and axe handles or is the type that "used" to be sold in builders merchants the best to use?

I don’t think there is a ‘best’, any type will do the job, for axe and knife handles. The main difference is if it is ‘raw’ or ‘boiled’. Raw will take longer to dry than boiled.

Cold pressed has a couple of advantages. One is that it’s ‘food safe’ in the sense that it has no metallic driers in it (which can, apparently, leach out if the item is left soaking in water, even when the oil has fully oxidized), this may be more important if the oil is being used to treat wooden eating/cooking utensils. The other is that cold pressed oil has a higher linolenic acid content, which is the substance that when oxidized into its hardened state, helps to protect the wood from attack by moisture.

Cost is another issue. The type of linseed oil that is sold in ‘health food’ shops as a dietary supplement is usually labelled as ‘flax oil’ or ‘flax seed oil’ and will be more expensive, probably in part, because of the overhead costs of the hygienic conditions that it would be processed in. Likewise, the types of oil sold by an artist’s colourman may have gone through various extra stages of processing to achieve the varied effects needed by artists and art restorers, who may need oils with very predictable qualities, in terms of the oil’s chemistry.

Best regards,
Paul.

 

[Celt_Ginger]

Thanks for all the replies. I looked in B&Q in Ballymena, Craigavon and even Sprucefield and none of them had it. I'll have to try Ballymena again. Thanks Combatblade.

 

[John Fenna]

So - for cooking knives its health food shop oil, for field knives its animal feed oil, for general use oil its the B&Q version but for Drawer Queens its Artist linseed oil?

 

[Rebel]

Not quite.

Artist's linseed oil is very pure and stable so that when it is mixed with oil paints it won't cause discolouration of the pigments and it will last for several lifetimes. The best pro quality oil will be cold pressed, this means it has no impurities in it. It also takes about six months to dry.

Raw linseed oil from a hardware shop will be low grade oil that is highly refined (a bit like the difference between extra virgin olive oil and standard vegetable oil really). This oil will be fine for treating wood but again will take months to dry, generally speaking not something you'd want to use on an axe handle.

The boiled stuff isn't boiled (although it was in the old days), boiled means it has a chemical drying agent in it and it is thinned down. This means it will soak more rapidly into wood and will dry in a day. Good for tool handles.

Another alternative to linseed oil that is food safe, so good for knife handles and cutting boards, is Ikea's mineral oil.

 

[fishy1]

I have an axe handle painted with boiled linseed oil that isn't dry yet and I painted it a week ago. Still slightly sticky.

 

[Aragorn]

Another alternative to linseed oil that is food safe, so good for knife handles and cutting boards, is Ikea's mineral oil.

would this also be suitable for spoons, kuksa's ect

 

[TheGreenMan]

I have an axe handle painted with boiled linseed oil that isn't dry yet and I painted it a week ago. Still slightly sticky.

That may be because you applied a layer or several layers that are too thick. I found that the methods that work well for me are to either soak the object in oil for days or weeks, then remove the item and wipe every last trace of the oil from the surface, and then allow the oil soaked wood to oxidize. In warm weather I’ve found that oil will sometimes sweat back out from the wood, and this needs to be wiped from the surface, or alternatively, wipe many very light coats onto the wood until it stops absorbing the oil.

would this also be suitable for spoons, kuksa's ect

Instinct suggests that it would, at least from a food hygene point of view, but you should check that mineral oil has a 'drying quality'. Genrally speaking, oils are 'drying', 'semi-drying' or non-drying'. There are several grades of mineral oil, each being of differing viscosity. You also need to check that the mineral oil is 'food grade' quality.

Best regards,
Paul.

 

[fishy1]

I was guessing that the reason it was taking so long was becuase it's been in an unheated shed and it's been really cold, therefore slowing down the polymerisation of the oil?

 

[robin wood]

I was guessing that the reason it was taking so long was becuase it's been in an unheated shed and it's been really cold, therefore slowing down the polymerisation of the oil?

I wouldn't stress about it, wipe off the surface oil and it doesn't matter if it takes a day a week or 3 months for the oil to polymerise so long as the oil is in the wood it is protecting and waterproofing. If as it sounds you have got a lot on the surface and it is already too goopy to wipe off easily put a drop of tupentine or white spirit on your rag and wipe off with that. For treating stuff like axe handles I tend to thin oil with terpentine to help it penetrate the wood more, obviously not for food items though.

would this also be suitable for spoons, kuksa's ect

Ikea oil would do no harm and would be better than nothing. Many professional woodturners use mineral oil/liquid paraffin/ paraffin oil, whatever you want to call it. It has the benefit of being quite cheap and never going rancid as sunflower or olive can. It does not dry so is always liquid in the wood and can more easily wash out of the surface. Also wood treated with it then used always seems to get a dull greyish tinge with time. And it's a non renewable product of the petrochemical industry. I much prefer linseed or if you are sure there is no one with nut allergy about walnut is great. It dries like linseed, smells gorgeous and you can buy it in 250ml bottles from supermarkets. Warm the oil by putting the bottle in hot water for a while bfore you use it and it will penetrate better.

I have an axe handle painted with boiled linseed oil that isn't dry yet and I painted it a week ago. Still slightly sticky.

remove oil from surface, will get rid of sticky.

Cold pressed has a couple of advantages. One is that it’s ‘food safe’ in the sense that it has no metallic driers in it (which can, apparently, leach out if the item is left soaking in water, even when the oil has fully oxidized), this may be more important if the oil is being used to treat wooden eating/cooking utensils. The other is that cold pressed oil has a higher linolenic acid content, which is the substance that when oxidized into its hardened state, helps to protect the wood from attack by moisture.

Cost is another issue. The type of linseed oil that is sold in ‘health food’ shops as a dietary supplement is usually labelled as ‘flax oil’ or ‘flax seed oil’ and will be more expensive, probably in part, because of the overhead costs of the hygienic conditions that it would be processed in. Likewise, the types of oil sold by an artist’s colourman may have gone through various extra stages of processing to achieve the varied effects needed by artists and art restorers, who may need oils with very predictable qualities, in terms of the oil’s chemistry.

Best regards,
Paul.

That is a very interesting post. I have been using a lot of linseed over the last few years to treat my bowls, the nicest I have is some oil we bought in Sweden where you can buy dozens of different qualities like Olive oil in a posh deli. Mostly I use the horse feed oil, not cheap at £25 for 5 litres but it smells nice and is pure cold pressed. I did not know about the higher linolenic acid in cold pressed, do you have a source for that info that I could follow up? The other thing I have never managed to ascertain is does the raw linseed sold in B&Q and such places have driers? as a non food product they don't have to declare the ingredients. But it is clearly a very different product from the cold pressed linseeds. Not relevant for axe handles but important to know food use.

Cheers Robin

 

[TheGreenMan]

...That is a very interesting post. I have been using a lot of linseed over the last few years to treat my bowls, the nicest I have is some oil we bought in Sweden where you can buy dozens of different qualities like Olive oil in a posh deli. Mostly I use the horse feed oil, not cheap at £25 for 5 litres but it smells nice and is pure cold pressed. I did not know about the higher linolenic acid in cold pressed, do you have a source for that info that I could follow up? The other thing I have never managed to ascertain is does the raw linseed sold in B&Q and such places have driers? as a non food product they don't have to declare the ingredients. But it is clearly a very different product from the cold pressed linseeds. Not relevant for axe handles but important to know food use.

Cheers Robin

Having refreshed my memory by rereading the page below, it seems that the higher linolenic acid content is a result of the latitude at which the flax plant is grown and not a product of the cold pressing. Although, something may have been lost in the translation from Swedish to English.

Scroll down to the ‘English’ section of this page:
http://www.oilpress.com/linolja.htm

I use the Linolja brand and specifically the ‘sun bleached’ type. The claim that the sun bleaching pre-polymerises the oil, seems to be a true one, although the oil is a raw type it dries remarkably quickly on wood that has been soaked in the oil, and by quickly I mean weeks rather than months, to achieve what appears to be, to my untrained eye, a fully oxidized film.

I’ve got no info on the brands of linseed oil that are commonly available in the DIY stores, at this time, Robin.

Kind regards,
Paul.

PS: Are you lurking chem_doc, we need you?

 

[robin wood]

Having refreshed my memory by rereading the page below, it seems that the higher linolenic acid content is a result of the latitude at which the flax plant is grown and not a product of the cold pressing. Although, something may have been lost in the translation from Swedish to English.

Scroll down to the ‘English’ section of this page:
http://www.oilpress.com/linolja.htm

I use the Linolja brand and specifically the ‘sun bleached’ type. The claim that the sun bleaching pre-polymerises the oil, seems to be a true one, although the oil is a raw type it dries remarkably quickly on wood that has been soaked in the oil, and by quickly I mean weeks rather than months, to achieve what appears to be, to my untrained eye, a fully oxidized film.

I’ve got no info on the brands of linseed oil that are commonly available in the DIY stores, at this time, Robin.

Kind regards,
Paul.

PS: Are you lurking chem_doc, we need you?

Thanks for that Paul, do you think they used a computer translation package on that page? interesting info.
Where do you buy your linolja from?

This is my favourite oil bought in Sweden but I have yet to find anything as nice over here. I particularly like the fact it is quite thin and nearly colourless. The horse feed oil is rather yellow. It sounds from the page you posted as if the thin clear oil is maybe the first oil to run out of the press in cold pressing.

I was told in Sweden that to make an oil which goes off really quickly you put it in a fish tank on the windowsill in full sunlight and each day stir the oil. After a few months you have a pre polymerised oil that will go off very quickly.

 

[MartiniDave]

I'm quite lucky as I have about a gallon, which has to be well over 50 years old. My Uncle bought a gallon can of parrafin lamp oil from the village hardware store many years ago (he died as an old man in about 1980!). When he got his lamp oil home - about a mile and a half - he found he had in fact bought a can of linseed oil. Even back then I think the linseed was far more pricey than the parrafin.
I reckon it'll see me out at the rate I'm using it.
The oil is a little cloudy now, especially if the can gets shaken up, but goes on well and seems to dry nicely. Always seems to give a nicer finish than B&Q's finest!

Dave