Which food safe oil is best to use?

[TallTom]

Which oil is best?

Ive been carving a fair bit recently and have a variety of spoons, forks and butter knives made from apple wood, ash or hawthorn.

I have used olive oil in the past but i think it goes rancid after a while as the spoon I used it on smells a bit now, I also used mineral oil (butcher block oil specificly) but It seems to wear out pretty quick, Ive been told it doesnt set.
Ive also used Danish oil for a knife handle I made but im sure it's not food safe.

So is there an oil you swear by?

 

[woodpoet]

I use Walnut oil, seems to work pretty well. Had no problems so far.

 

[Hedgecrafter]

I've always used walnut oil.

Just let it be and don't rush. I tend to carve something then give it a good soak in walnut oil for a few days. Then let it dry for a week. Then sand it down and oil it again.
If its something special like a gift ill oil it every week up to 10times if I have the time.

 

[Baelfore]

Raw linseed oil. I love the colour it brings up in the grain. the two birch spoons in the other thread were raw linseed oil.

whats the saying?

Coat once a day for a week,
once a week for a month,
once a month for a year,
once a year forever!
(pretty sure I read this on here)


I also use walnut oil when I want an darker colour, but two of my friends have nut allergies, one pretty serious, so I have to be conscious of that.

Hope this helps

Ste

 

[Teepee]

Tung oil is standard for foodsafe oiling, another option. It won't go quite as shiny as linseed.

 

[2trapper]

Raw linseed oil. i used for several items (spoons, forks, handles, kitchen boards). It works very well, but it tends to darken the surface and it could be very nice if you want to exalt the wood grain.

 

[TallTom]

Thanks guys I think ill go for linseed as I work with groups and reducing the risk of anaphylaxis is always good.

I think darkening the apple wood will be nice. Ill try and post the photos once done

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[Thetillerman71]

Walnut oil works for me, available in most supermarkets

 

[Baelfore]

Thanks guys I think ill go for linseed as I work with groups and reducing the risk of anaphylaxis is always good.

I think darkening the apple wood will be nice. Ill try and post the photos once done

It gives a lovely effect to both the grain and different shades of brown in apple wood. I've been making a lot of my stuff out of (brambly) apple. lovely wood all together.

Just make sure its raw oil and not boiled as the boiled linseed oil may not be food safe.

Hope this helps

Ste

 

[TallTom]

Thanks, Ive ordered some raw not linseed oil, cant wait to get these bits finished. Got 8 ready to be oiled

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[mrcharly]

Some people get good results from flax oil.

Raw linseed will set (oxidise) but it takes ages.

I recently used Ronseal kitchen worktop oil on a birch worktop. Brought up the grain beautifully, really lovely finish. Didn't 'yellow' the wood at all.

 

[Tiley]

Flax oil and linseed oil are one and the same. Flax oil is used for cooking and is therefore almost guaranteed safe for anything you put in your mouth; linseed, especially raw, should still be OK though.

I've tried both tung oil and flaxseed oil and I think I prefer the latter, though it does take forever to dry, particularly if you soak your work in it. I also tried a stuff called Finishing Oil on the basis that it was used on kitchen work surfaces and it was good but for quite a while gave things a rather unpleasant taste! This one for ceremonial spoons only, I reckon!

 

[Parbajtor]

Commonly used "drying" oils include linseed oil, tung oil, poppy seed oil, perilla oil, and walnut oil. Because drying/hardening oils rely on oxidation, they tend to be susceptible to going rancid. Many drying oils (including "boiled" Linseed Oil) will have the addition of metal salts or naptha or toxic solvents to accelerate the drying process, none of which are very good for you. My personal preference is an initial use of raw linseed oil to protect and waterproof and then use sunflower oil for "maintenance" of spoons and chopping boards. I prefer sunflower oil because it has one of the longest shelf lives and doesn't darken the wood. After the initial treatment, it doesn't really matter if an oil sets or not. They get oiled as they need it and that is usually more often than the time it takes for the oil to go rancid. You could also use carnauba wax, as it is food safe, forming the hard coating on sweets & chocolates (melts in your mouth, not your hand) as well as extensive use in dentistry and cosmetics.

 

[bluey1610]

Is boiled linseed oil with nothing added to it safe for eating off?

 

[TallTom]

Oil arrived today, theres the lot, thank for the advice, this is also my first upload ed pic so hope it works.

 

[Tiley]

Commonly used "drying" oils include linseed oil, tung oil, poppy seed oil, perilla oil, and walnut oil. Because drying/hardening oils rely on oxidation, they tend to be susceptible to going rancid.

I was always lead to believe that some oils, including tung oil, were favoured because they didn't go rancid. Have I been misled?