Food safe finishes

[PhillH]

I know there are any number of commercially available food safe oils, but I got to thinking ..................

Could you use something like sunflower oil as a finish for a bowl ?

My (possibly flawed) logic being that that and stuff like olive oil are foodstuffs so they would be safe.

Or am I being incredibly stupid here ?

 

[bellringer]

well i have heard of finishing chopping broads with it

 

[dotslad]

I used cooking oil on a couple of chopping boards and it works fine

 

[Woody]

Hi Phil yes you can use food oils but they will take a lot longer to dry as they dont have any drying agents in them I have always used Rustins Teak or danish oils another one which is the quickest to dry is hard wax oil it is what they use on kitchen worktops and chopping boards all three are food safe well I have never had any complaints in all the years I have used them

 

[bellringer]

Is hard wax oil what you use on you bowls woody

 

[Woody]

I have on some Alex but mostly I use Rustins Teak oil for a gloss finish and Danish oil for a satin finish from 3 to 6 coats depending on the wood type small bowls that wont be used for food stuff I polish

 

[PhillH]

Hi Phil yes you can use food oils but they will take a lot longer to dry as they dont have any drying agents in them I have always used Rustins Teak or danish oils another one which is the quickest to dry is hard wax oil it is what they use on kitchen worktops and chopping boards all three are food safe well I have never had any complaints in all the years I have used them

Ahah ! Thats the bit I was missing then, drying agents.

Your next post answered my question of "what's the difference between.........."

Thanks all for clearing that up for me.

 

[retreatjohn]

Liquid Paraffin from the chemist, if you look at Chestnut Food Safe Finish tha'ts the ingredient!

 

[rowdyyates115]

I am not too sure on using food oils as they do have shelf life and do go off - usually taste....

 

[Doug]

I am not too sure on using food oils as they do have shelf life and do go off - usually taste....

More than likely Rowdy, I have read that vegetable oils can turn rancid over time on turned items but having never used them on my work I can`t verify that.
I was told that a lot of the available finishes are food safe but due to the cost of having this verified & certificated manufacturers don`t bother because if they change the ingredients in a product only a tiny amount it has to be checked again, which is very expensive.

 

[Woody]

I have used the same oils for years and they were used for years before me so who needs a certificate anyway it will only tell me what I have known for years the one I think dose state that it is food safe is hard wax oil as it is now what the industry use on worktops and wooden flooring.
There have been debates on other forums about food safe products and to be honest most of these so called experts talk out of there ass at one time they used tar to line tankards and the likes to make them waterproof

 

[Grump]

As Sir Woody correctly says this is an age old question that keeps popping up and has been answered by every self made expert on every foirum known to man.
My conclusion for what it is worth, in these days of health and safety gone mad every product is food safe.
The tables have turned and all harmfull content has been removed from our finishing products and been replaced by probably more harmful ones but that is yet to be discovered.
If a product contains any harmfull ingredients it must be clearly stated on the packaging.
To sum up: If it says not food safe then it is not food safe, if it says food safe or nothing mentioned then it is food safe.
Let it be so I have spoken and making myself an expert on the subject of Bullsh*t

 

[Walter]

I agree with Woody and Brian. A great deal of bullsh*t has been written on this subject. I also agree with Brian's summary "If it says not food safe then it is not food safe, if it says food safe or nothing mentioned then it is food safe" although if nothing is mentioned I would add "probably".

I don't claim to be an expert and as far as I know there is no official standard for "food safe" finishes. There is however a standard for "toy safe" finishes and if you want to be absolutely certain that what you are using contains nothing known to cause harm then look for products that comply with the latest standard BS EN 71-3:2013 or its predecessor BS EN 71-3:1995.

 

[Grump]

A very sensible addition young Walter thank you for that.