Salad bowl finish?

[Aled Dafis]

Hi, what do you guys use as a durable salad bowl finish? Ideally I'd like something with a bit of a sheen.

Thanks
Aled

 

[CHJ]

Initially food safe oil (mineral oil BP), but they have been in use for several years now and we do not bother with any finish renewal, just swill clean and leave to dry.

 

[Aled Dafis]

Great, thanks.

Do you have any experience with walnut oil? From a little reading on the web, it seems to be pretty popular and is one of the fastest polymerising natural oils (so they say anyway) so it should dry to a nice sheen.

 

[CHJ]

I don't use any nut oils associated with food items in case users are allergic.
On the basis that walnut oil can go rancid I would be reluctant to use it myself.

 

[tekno.mage]

I don't use any nut oils associated with food items in case users are allergic.
On the basis that walnut oil can go rancid I would be reluctant to use it myself.

Walnut oil does go rancid! I used it on a couple bowls without problems and had trouble with a third - the oil stayed sticky on the wood and started to smell a bit off. I had to wash off the old walnut oil with soapy water, then I dried and refinished the bowl with Osmo oil and its been ok ever since.

 

[Glynne]

I use tung oil. It is nut based so you do have to be careful if anyone has a nut allergy but as none of my mob do....

Glynne

 

[CHJ]

Thanks for the confirmation Kym, as Rancid Walnut is one of those mouth accosting flavors I detest I've always been wary.

 

[CHJ]

I use tung oil. It is nut based so you do have to be careful if anyone has a nut allergy but as none of my mob do....

Glynne

Is it pure tung oil. or a blend with other dryers?

here's one USA Ref.

 

[Aled Dafis]

Interesting, Mike Mahoney's finishing oil is popular in the States and that's pure walnut oil. If I remember correctly it's what Glenn Lucas uses on all of his bowls.

 

[CHJ]

Interesting, Mike Mahoney's finishing oil is popular in the States and that's pure walnut oil. If I remember correctly it's what Glenn Lucas uses on all of his bowls.

But is it generic untreated walnut oil as can be found on a supermarket shelf? need to be careful about using generic names without having the full specifications.

 

[paulm]

I use Sainsbury's walnut oil on my rifle stock, gives it a lovely sheen and dries in a day or two if you wipe on light coats and remove the surplus well.

Don't eat off of my rifle though obviously so no idea if it will/has turned rancid, though suspect I would smell it and haven't detected anything wrong to date !

Having said that, for salad bowls and similar I use mineral oil, often the Chestnut version, and just give an occasional extra wipe of same if a piece looks too dry.

With regard to nut allergies, I read somewhere that it is the proteins in the various nuts themselves that cause the problems, and they are not present in the oils, but I don't know if that is actually correct or proven so safety first I guess.

Cheers, Paul

 

[Glynne]

Is it pure tung oil. or a blend with other dryers?

I use pure tung oil.
For the first 3 or 4 coats I apply the oil diluted with white spirit (50/50), leave it for 5 -10 minutes to soak in and then wipe off the excess.
I let each coat dry for ~ 24 hours and then finish with a coat of undiluted oil, again wiping off the excess and leave for a couple of days before using.

Wiping off the excess is really important, otherwise the oil never seems to dry and you end up with a sticky, tacky finish - I know from experience!

Glynne

 

[andersonec]

Liberon Finishing oil is good, also Mylands wood finishing oil, Chestnut finishing oil, all will do for worktops, chopping boards, toys etc and are Tung oil based, a more expensive but made for purpose is General Finishes Salad Bowl Finish, The only place I have seen this over here is Rutlands.

Andy

 

[Dodge]

I always wipe ours with virgin olive oil, washing and drying after use just wipe with olive oil and leave til used next time.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Again, olive oil is known to go rancid.

 

[Aled Dafis]

Wow, I thought we'd come up with a consensus pretty quickly on a basic salad bowl finish, but it seems that there are as many answers as there are issues.

- The issue I have with sunflower/olive/mineral oil is that they don't harden and therefore will wash off.
- Tung/Danish oils have added dryers (usually metallic) that may or may not be harmful to the user, depending on who you listen to, and can be quite smelly for a long time.
- So that leaves us with walnut oil, which is self polymerizing (it dries) in a fairly short time, days as opposed to weeks and therefore will (should) not wash out of the wood under normal use. I think I'll give some walnut oil from the supermarket a go and just hope that it doesn't go rancid, it shouldn't once it polymerizes, should it??

What we really need is a UK supplier of Mahoney's Walnut oil, it's what Mike himself as well as Glenn Lucas use, and they know a thing or two about making salad bowls in great quantities! Mike's oil is heat treated to ensure it polymerizes quicker.

http://www.bowlmakerinc.com/finishes.html

Here's a snippet from his site

"About Mahoney’s Utility Oil

Mahoney's Utility Oil is a heat-treated walnut oil used as a substitute for polymerized
(Danish oil) oils and mineral oils. It is the all-natural, food safe, and non-toxic choice for
your wood projects. Mahoney's Utility Oi1 penetrates the wood and then hardens, similar
to polymerized oils, but unlike mineral oil which never dries and eventually evaporates.
Although polymerized oils (boiled linseed oil, tung oil, etc) generally offer the greatest
durability for wooden items, they are toxic to the skin, emit an odor for weeks after
hardening, and science is inconclusive about their safety after all the hardening agents
have dissipated. Mahoney's Utility Oi1 is the perfect substitute for these products; it is
non-toxic, food safe, there is no offensive odor, and it provides a durable finish. Use
Mahoney's Utility Oil for all your utility wood items (bowls, butcher blocks, spoons,
trivets, etc.). Mahoney's Utility Oil also works great on furniture with oil finishes."

http://poisondioxide.com/pdf/utility_oil.pdf

Cheers
Aled

 

[jurriaan]

I almost always use walnut oil. The only woods I've had problems with are woods that are oily or resinous themselves, most particularly yew and thuja. Then, you might get a sticky layer. But on other woods, I've never had any problems.

 

[duncanh]

I've never used it for salad bowls (as I've never really made that many), but Rustins danish oil conforms to the contact with food regulations (http://www.rustins.eu/ProdData/Danish%20Oil%20PDS.pdf) and also the toy regulations. I've used it for baby rattles (amongst other things) and it dries fairly quickly and buffs up nicely. From what I've seen of the rattles that have been used it holds up well to getting wet.

 

[Aled Dafis]

Update: I've just tried Walnut oil, and it gives a lovely feel, I'll report back when it cures.

Cheers
Aled

 

[xraymtb]

I used Tesco walnut oil a few weeks ago and it seems to have cured after about 5 days. For salad bowls I quite like it but haven't lived with it yet.