Anyone use coconut oil on their knives?

[Mitt]

So we ran out of mineral oil but we have a ton of coconut oil at the house. It has a 21% fat content but seems to be a fairly stable oil. I have used it some in the past to revive buffalo horn but never put it on a blade. Does anyone use it on your blades? How will it effect 1095, will it help protect a patina, will it create more patina?

 

[afishhunter]

I've never used coconut oil (never even had any) but I have used olive oil to lube the joints and to wipe down the blades.
I've not noticed any change in the patina on my carbon steel blades, and it did not create a patina on my Opinel No. 8 with Carbone blade.

I'm don't know how close olive oil is to coconut oil concerning fat content though.
ATM I am out of olive oil.

 

[Mo2]

Olive oil will go rancid avoid it.

Frog lube is coconut oil, it's not great for pivots but will work. It's pretty good for rust prevention on blades. Heat it up and apply.

 

[kamagong]

Why would you? Coconut oil solidifies at ~ 75 °F. Seems like a great way to gum up the pivots of your folding knives.

 

[Mitt]

Why would you? Coconut oil solidifies at ~ 75 °F. Seems like a great way to gum up the pivots of your folding knives.

I was wondering more about the coconut cooking oil not just regular coconut oil. The coconut cooking oil I have never had solidified. I guess I should have specified more.

 

[JTB_5]

I was wondering more about the coconut cooking oil not just regular coconut oil. The coconut cooking oil I have never had solidified. I guess I should have specified more.

We use coconut cooking oil and it still solidifies. The only kind I’ve seen that doesn’t is fractionated.

 

[mrknife]

one bottle of mineral oil from the pharmacy will probably last a life time if used solely for steel maintenance. though some friends on the forum did say there are other uses wouldnt risk coconut oil

 

[jmh33]

Nope...

 

[knowtracks]

Nope...

Dave

 

[Jsega51]

I have a rag, well, really it’s an old cotton sock, that I use to wipe down my user knives with. At this point it’s pretty much oiled up (mineral) so that I rarely have to add more liquid. All the blade needs is a real thin layer.

If I ever ran out of mineral oil, that sock would work fine for months.

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

A while back, I'd experimented with the liquified (assuming 'fractionated') version of coconut oil as a skin emollient/moisturizer. It came as a clear liquid (at room temperature), which I found at the drug store. I intended it mostly for my hands, but I also put a little bit on my face. By the afternoon, I was noticing the little bit of coconut oil left in my moustache, i.e., directly under my nose, was starting to SMELL PRETTY FUNKY. Not like fresh coconut anymore, but something beginning to approximate the smell of dirty laundry. I couldn't wash that stuff off my face soon enough.

Some have claimed coconut oil doesn't go rancid. But the little 'experiment' directly under my nose seemed to prove otherwise. Since then, it's been a no-brainer to me that I'll never use it on my knives. It may or may not do any harm to them, but I don't like the thought of that stuff going 'stinky' on one of my favorite knives.

What little oiling my knives ever need is handled with no worries, using a little bit of mineral oil.

 

[Will Power]

I've used the culinary type with good success on handles, it revives horn well, gives wood and bone a good shine. As it starts to liquefy on your hands it's easy to apply to handles and enhances the look of photos.... I've not found any rancid issues or smell, I doubt it would lubricate steel that well but it does give a nice gloss to patinated steel. As I say, it's the stuff from jars you can eat or cook with, avoid cosmetic type .

 

[afishhunter]

Olive oil will go rancid avoid it.

I don't know about that. In 50 odd years of using it, I've never had it go rancid.

 

[Will Power]

I agree, Olive oil doesn't go rancid but it does become sticky. Coconut does not.

This is a good place to discuss food prep. Many of my stainless knives - and some carbons get used for food prep so finding something safe to lubricate the springs with is vital. Here in my part of Europe, mineral oil is only available a Baby oil and is thus scented, not too nice on knife handles or blades. If you apply a tiny drop of 3 in 1 or lock type oils it soon gets on the blade and that too has odour and is unsafe. Is there anything else? Graphites? Some non sticky lubricant that's food safe and no odour? I've found Coconut oil pretty satisfactory so far as you can put a bit on a matchstick directly on the pivot. At least it's edible And it does make handles look good like I say, horn in particular which is very prone to dry air.

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

The qualifier to the claims regarding a food-based oil that 'doesn't go rancid' is that the claim is always dependant on the product being stored in an airtight container under tolerable conditions of temperature, exposure to sunlight, etc. So long as it's in there, hopefully in a relatively 'full' container (read: small volume of air inside), it'll keep a long time. But once it's 'out in the air' and exposed to an unlimited volume of atmospheric oxygen, all bets are off and coconut oil, olive oil and most others go rancid pretty fast. A little bit of olive oil at the bottom of a nearly-empty bottle that's been unsealed for a while gets to smelling kind of funky too.

Well-reputed producers of olive oil warn of rancidity and also test for it, before shipping their product.

Whether any of that really matters, in using it to protect a knife blade from short-term corrosion, is anybody's guess. It'll probably do in a pinch, and likely won't matter much if the blade is cleaned and re-oiled regularly. But other products will still do it better.

 

[Gevonovich]

evoo is all I use. I tried food grade mineral oil and I hate how it feels on bone. I soaked an old rusted knife in it one time and got the thing working but hated the slime feeling. Washed with soap and water and applied a few drops of Extra virgin olive oil Ebony too. I have a very sensitive nose and no issues with rancidity. Don't blob it on and wipe and polish after a minute or two with cotton rag

 

[Mo2]

I don't know about that. In 50 odd years of using it, I've never had it go rancid.

Really? That's funny cause if it's not sealed it will absolutely go rancid.

 

[brownshoe]

Really? That's funny cause if it's not sealed it will absolutely go rancid.

Not if you use your olive oil on a regular basis. You will use it up before it goes rancid.

 

[meako]

I read in a cooking article in a great metropolitan sydney morning herald newspaper a while back that most olive oil and butter we use in our day to day lives is in fact rancid. Whether that means its smelly, inedible or in some way toxic is open to opinion.
I believe the author was trying to point out that fresh is best. Even so not many of us can afford to crack open a new bottle of even the cheapest cooking oil every time.
Coconut oil ...
Too expensive and too viscous for lubricating my knives .
Maaayybe on a desert island with nothing but coconuts....

 

[redsparrow]

... Here in my part of Europe, mineral oil is only available a Baby oil and is thus scented, not too nice on knife handles or blades....

Will, just curious what you meant by "...not to nice on knife handles or blades". Have you experienced or heard of a problem in using baby oil on knives? -James