I’m making soap with the family and was reading up on glycerine. Has anyone tried using it on their stems? Either hot water bath and cooled with glycerine, or in place of obsidian oil?
Glycerine and Vulcanite?
- Thread starter bayareabriar
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I give my vulcanite stems a coating of mineral oil overnight before rubbing it off in the morning with a paper towel. Works great so far.
My collection of pre war kaywoodies gets MCT oil. It's food grade coconut oil that does not go rancid and is not solid.
Glycerin attracts water from the air. Water is bad for vulcanite.
I would avoid all non-drying oils on vulcanite. Water, sulfur and UV light all hasten its degradation.
Best bet is to use oil that does not go rancid. I use jojoba oil to clean and preserve vulcanite. It's technically a very thin liquid wax, not an oil.
Coconut oil is technically a semi-solid wax, can be food grade, is easy to work with and confers superior wood finish and protection. The only caveat is wood color change with first use, but it is usually a handsome result on most briars. Works well on pipes. Jojoba oil is another fine choice. I’ve tested both over years.
Jojoba is a true liquid wax which never oxidizes. The coconut oil I use is a clear liquid at room temperature. It does enrich the color of the pipe. The white semi solid type is a bit to difficult to work with without modification and can oxidize under certain conditions. The clear liquid oil does not oxidize.