Preventing rust and pitting: Vaseline vs. baby oil vs. camellia oil

Hi,

I live in the midwest where it is super humid (94% humidity last week...yuck!) Anyways, I want to prevent rust and pitting. I know camellia oil will do the trick, but does anyone use vaseline petroleum jelly or baby oil with similar success? I want to avoid buying camellia oil if I have to, as I move around frequently and it is just one more thing to pack.

Thanks!

My vote... for long term storage, petroleum jelly. For daily use, baby oil. Though I know some folks don't like the idea of using baby oil. But hey, it's not like they are an endangered species or anything...

Slash McCoy said:

My vote... for long term storage, petroleum jelly. For daily use, baby oil. Though I know some folks don't like the idea of using baby oil. But hey, it's not like they are an endangered species or anything...

Click to expand...

No, but it's the cold press extraction that some folks find undesirable....

Woodash said:

No, but it's the cold press extraction that some folks find undesirable....

Click to expand...

Any mineral oil will do.

I do not know any good reason to use camellia before mineral, except for its "eastern old school vibe"

Ive only ever heard good things about camellia oil

It depends on whether these razors are being used or just in your collection. If you are using the razors then mineral oil will do. Baby oil is just mineral oil with a scent, the same as choji Japanese sword oil, which is scented with cloves. If you are putting it away for a long time, though, it will have to be periodically taken out, the old oil should be completely removed, and new oil applied. A PITA unless it is a valuable antique sword. For this type of thing I just use renaissance wax. Apply once and forget about it. Great stuff.

mdunn said:

Ive only ever heard good things about camellia oil

Click to expand...

Yes, it's definitely works well.
But I just haven't seen any arguments as on why its preferable over mineral oil.
And the OP didn't want to buy Camellia if he didn't have to.

I prefer mineral oil (to scented baby oil) as it is completely colourless and odourless. As mentioned, I have not heard of a compelling reason to switch to camelia oil.

JMP said:

Hi,

I live in the midwest where it is super humid (94% humidity last week...yuck!) Anyways, I want to prevent rust and pitting. I know camellia oil will do the trick, but does anyone use vaseline petroleum jelly or baby oil with similar success? I want to avoid buying camellia oil if I have to, as I move around frequently and it is just one more thing to pack.

Thanks!

Click to expand...

I hope this isn't wrong, but for an active razor I don't coat it with oil. I dry it out and do 50 strokes on my strop before putting it away, then store it in a shave cabinet just outside the bathroom.

If I have a blade I know I am not going to use for a while I put neosporin on it. Not for the antibiotic qualities, but because it is essentialy petroleum jelly and it is sitting in my medicine cabinet. I haven't had a problem with it yet.

I use a light coating of petroleum jelly on a daily basis. It was suggested in some guidance I received from the very kind Larry Andro. So far, it's working very well.

jmp,

I live very close to the English Channel in a leaky old Victorian House.

I use Sentry Solutions TufGlide for short term protection, and Ballistol for longer term protection. For 'archiving' I use RIG grease. All thes ehave done a super job at protecting my straights, bith carbon and stainless.

I have also used bay oil in the past with good results; 'modern' oils contain corrosion inhibitors and are great for firearms etc, but many do not like the thought of such things on their skin

Have fun !

Best regards

Russ

I have used two products so far, in the year and a half I've been finding and rejuvenating old and ugly SRs for my own use.

The first one I got was Hoppe's Lubricating Oil I bought at a gun shop. It's almost empty now, and I recently picked up a small 3 ounce can of WD-40. They both work just fine and dandy. I've always been around tools and machinery, guns, knives, and car parts, so I just gravitate to what seems normal to me.

Somebody mentioned something about getting something on your skin, and I have no idea what that means in any kind of negative context, since it's pretty normal for me to be coming in contact with that kind of stuff. Anyway. I'm sure "all of the above" is good enough.

The only option mentioned that would give me any doubts would be to use nothing at all. YMMV, of course, and to each his own!

Whenever i restore blades i find that baby oil beads right off and kinda ruins the mirror finish with a foggy hazy coat. However on un-restored blades it seems to work just fine, no noticeable difference

Bump

I think all the above methods work well. Camellia oil has been favored by Japanese chefs because it is food grade and edible. And if you get some on you, you can just rub it in. Camellia oil is also used as a skin moisturizer.

Another necro thread....

Back when this thread started, a lot of what used to be sold as Camelia oil for cutlery was actually mineral oil with a small percentage of Camelia oil added. I think those products are still around too, they usually had anti-rust claims on the bottles. But true Camelia oil is available, usually at much higher cost. It' gets gummy over time though. I am not a fan. I had a big bottle of it and gave it away. Mineral oil USP from the pharmacy is what is out on my bench, and what gets used 99% of the time. Ren Wax is good for long term.

Only time I used camelia oil was when it came with a custom razor. Applied it and found it to get gummy after months of the razor sitting idle. Used isopropyl alcohol pad to get it off. Never used it again.

I think mineral oil may be best. I use an electric trimmer for my hair and it advises mineral oil. That makes sense because you don't want the moving parts to get gummed up.

I keep this altoid box with a microfiber cloth that has a few drops of gun oil on. I wipe the metal bits of the razor once it has dried a few hours, before putting it away. It's pretty easy to wipe off with some toilet paper before I use the razor again, but will still leave a nice thin film of oil on the metal in the meantime, without condensing in 'drops'.

If it's good enough for my shotguns that sometimes stay all day in the rain -- and still don't rust -- it's going to be fine for my razors!