Praise for Mineral Oil

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mikethompson

Lifer
Jun 26, 2016
11,292
23,327
Near Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Just started into the world of pipe restoration/refreshing and have found that simple mineral oil is just incredible stuff. Restoring colour to a stem? Deepening colour on a bowl? Quick refreshing of a favorite pipe? It is hard to beat for ease of use and cost. Definitely a must have for your pipe maintenance kit in my opinion.
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mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,433
Good suggestion. Since it's mineral oil, rather than vegetable oil etc., I think it would keep for a long time. There might be mineral oil thriving spores or bugs, but not likely to be a problem if the bottle is capped, and especially if near full.

 

alexnc

Part of the Furniture Now
Oct 25, 2015
953
804
Southeast US
never tried it on a pipe - but have used it for years on wood handled cutting knives!

for stems also try obsidian oil - it's great stuff

 

donjgiles

Lifer
Apr 14, 2018
1,571
2,522
What I like to do is use just one rag for each "stage" of the process. Once that rag is laced with your product (mineral oil, restoration balm) you can just wipe the pipe down while warm after a good smoke. One for cleaner, oil, one for wax...
Don

 

jpmcwjr

Moderator
Staff member
May 12, 2015
24,568
27,074
Carmel Valley, CA
I've recommended mineral oil for several years, and it doesn't go rancid, is fine on stem and stummel, and is much cheaper than Obsidian Oil. Recommended for butcher block table tops, and all wooden utensils as well.
Any vegetable oil will go rancid over time, but on a pipe that gets well used, it'll rub off before it turns nasty.

 

alaskanpiper

Enabler in Chief
May 23, 2019
9,348
42,243
Alaska
I use it alot. I already had a big stash because we have butcher block countertops, which I usually season with one pass of mineral oil, then another pass with a mixture of mineral oil, beeswax, and carnauba wax, then buff.
The mineral oil is great on stems and seems to work well on the bowl with one coat before waxing.

 

cossackjack

Lifer
Oct 31, 2014
1,052
647
Evergreen, Colorado
Here's my Bees Wax-Mineral Oil recipe
Beeswax*:  1 gm + Mineral oil**:  5 ml

- upscaled to -

Beeswax:  28 gm (~1 oz) + Mineral oil:  142 ml (4.8 fl oz) (this perfectly fits in a 4 oz Mason jelly jar)
* cosmetic-grade white beeswax, melted

** pharmaceutical-grade (USP) mineral oil
Consistency is similar to solidified coconut oil, & works well on cutting boards & other kitchen utensils.

I have not tried this on briar pipes or vulcanite stems.

I have not tried adding carnauba wax (as per alaskanpiper), but will make a batch adding carnauba flakes 28 gm to the recipe.

 

alaskanpiper

Enabler in Chief
May 23, 2019
9,348
42,243
Alaska
I have not tried adding carnauba wax (as per alaskanpiper), but will make a batch adding carnauba flakes 28 gm to the recipe.
To be clear, that mixture is what I use to condition our butcher block countertops. I have not used it on any pipes yet, but I am intrigued as to how well it would work. Straight Mineral oil, Straight Carnauba wax, and Straight Halcyon II wax are all I have used on briar.

 

cossackjack

Lifer
Oct 31, 2014
1,052
647
Evergreen, Colorado
alaskanpiper

Understood.

I plan to try the mixture on cutting boards & wooden kitchen implements, then on a few basket pipes, & perhaps on a meerschaum or a calabash gourd. I suspect that it will be too oily for pipes & may have to reduce the mineral oil content.

 
Sep 18, 2015
3,253
41,957
I make my own mixture of mineral oil, carnauba and beeswax for conditioning also, mostly for woodworking projects, it works great for Vulcanite stems, for the strummels I prefer straight carnauba, it lasts longer!

 

trubka2

Lifer
Feb 27, 2019
2,470
21,640
Love the stuff! So do my pipes. I've always used it for our cutting boards, etc., but hadn't thought of using it on pipes until I read one of jpm's posts. Now all my pipes get a good slathering of it at least once a week.

 

bullet08

Lifer
Nov 26, 2018
8,932
37,913
RTP, NC. USA
been using mineral oil on carbon steel knives, wooden scales, cutting blocks and so on. but on pipes, been using renaissance wax.

 
May 8, 2017
1,593
1,627
Sugar Grove, IL, USA
While I have no evidence to support this, I believe that Obsidian Oil is essentially mineral oil with a bit of UV blocking agent. I had a bottle I used for cutting boards, but it freaked out my wife, so she tossed it.

 
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