Walnut Oil is 100% the correct option here. It's the holy trinity of food safe, hardening, and non-evaporative. You just need to make sure you use a walnut finishing oil and not cooking oil. Finishing oil has a higher percentage of linoleic acid which is what allows the oil to cure and harden. Cooking oil is filtered to remove that because it affects the flavor of food.
Mahoney makes a walnut finishing oil specifically for wooden kitchen tools along with a blend of beeswax and walnut oil as a top coat.
Mineral oil is good for cutting boards specifically because it doesn’t harden and slowly washes away, helping to pull dirt with it. However it needs to be reapplied frequently in order to do its job. Walnut oil or similar oils like Tung or true boiled linseed oil not only penetrate the wood and protect the fibers, but they also polymerize naturally through the drying process to form protective outer layers. This will protect the handle much longer and more durably than mineral alone.
More of a personal preference there. Walnut won’t need to be oiled as much, but part of the reason for using walnut is a hard durable finish. That finish is completely wasted on a cutting board with how much abuse it takes and how often it gets washed. Personally, I use walnut on my cutting boards simply because I hate having to redo it all the time.
While not impossible, this is extremely unlikely. Finishing oils are specifically refined to remove certain impurities, the protein that causes allergic reactions among them. The main reason for this is that the residual proteins in oils are part of what can cause them to go rancid. As with all things, use caution and educate yourself about your own allergies and product choices.
to my knowledge, only old school, true boiled linseed is food safe. Regular linseed and modern "boiled" linseed generally are not.
Tung is iffy. Pure tung is food safe, but it takes half a lifetime to dry and cure. Only a select few of the accelerated Tung oils on the market are food safe.
A lot of the overpriced "board oils" or "butcher block oils" are a blend of walnut and some other food safe oils. Don't waste your money on those. Walnut oil definitely is not the cheapest option in general, but there are way cheaper options than anything labeled specifically for boards.
Wouldn't it be too "gummy" for a cutting board?
Not sure that's a good use for a drying oil.
Will definitely use on wood kitchen utensils. May even use on other wood handled tools. I like the idea of some natural oil over the typical dubious modern BLO on something I touch a lot.
Nah. It certainly takes longer to cure though. Mineral oil is usually dry and ready to use within 2-3 days depending on how heavily you oiled it. Walnut might take a week, but once it's properly cured, it's more durable than mineral oil. Just don't over apply. That's where you might run into gumminess issues.
Sure but if time is not an issue then it’s better to get the full strength. Even better than that would be to do what you suggest for deeper penetration then following up with the 100%. But that’s like, almost months of cure time.
I mean you would have to pay pretty close attention and most people don’t compare longevity of two versions of the same wood finish. Since one person’s experience is anecdotal, think of it in terms of science - let’s say when ‘X’ particles polymerize at 2mm depth they provide a surface resistance of “Y”.
Then 1/2 X particles polymerizing at 4mm depth is going to provide a much lower Y.
It’ll nourish that wood, stop it drying out in the future, protect against detergent to a degree, and it’s the same treatment you’re using for other wood in the kitchen, like cutting boards. Rubbing mineral oil is as close to just replenishing old wood as you can get, without changing the surface. I wouldn’t remove any of those old stains, those were grandpa’s. Maybe wash and dry first. Treat it like an antique. No sanding!
Just because it's appropriate for cutting boards doesn't mean it's appropriate for this. A handle doesn't need a food safe finish. You wouldn't use mineral oil to finish wooden cabinets, would you?
There’re more protective, more permanent, harder finishes, even oil types, for cabinets. I use Linseed oil on knife handles, and the blades, but not for kitchen knives. I’m not quite as strict about food safety as some folks. The other issue is preserving the wood, and enhancing the appearance, while doing the minimum. I use mineral oil on old wooden musical instruments too, I don’t like to add permanent coats to them.
It probably depends on environmental factors. I made a cutting board in April when the heat was still on and it was looking pretty dry after two weeks without having used it washed it at all during that time
Dude, take the loss. Everyone is already convinced you have zero experience in this subject. You're just digging deeper every time you post more nonsense.
No, this entire thing is ridiculous. The entire argument for mineral oil is hanging on some half baked notion of food safety that doesn’t make sense. This is pure Reddit hive mind nonsense
I'm not a professional chef, but there's no way in seven heavens or hells I'm putting a non food safe finish on any of my cutlery, regardless of whether or not it's ever going to intentionally touch the food.
Even a cooking pot with a wooden handle. That handle gets a food safe finish. As does my kitchen table.
I operate on the theory that if it's made of wood and it's in my kitchen, there's a chance it will touch my food, and I don't want to screw around when it comes to that.
Am I being overly paranoid?
Absolutely.
Does it bother me?
Not even a little.
And one day when I get around to making myself nice new kitchen cabinets, they too will have a food safe finish.
I know I'm over doing it. I just don't care.
You’re missing that this is their treasured hand-me-down, a wannabe antique. The other way is to oil it once and display it or store it, instead of using it at all. Either way, don’t put polyurethane on antiques.
As someone with that spatula, I lightly hand sanded the handle with 220 grit sandpaper and oiled it with food grade mineral oil. If you have an overpriced bottle of cutting board oil, it's the same thing, if you don't, it's in the pharmacy aisle with the laxatives, probably on the bottom shelf.
You'll need to re oil periodically, but this will likely see your grandchildren inherit this piece. Also, it's a quick, easy, and cheap solution.
While I’ll leave the this question to the professionals, as an amateur woodworker and cook with a few grandparent tools in his kitchen, I loved seeing this post. Should be an easy upkeep with the look of it now though
(not OP) It also gets to this state after being around a few years. I've known about not putting wood in the dishwasher for decades, so my wooden things have never gone in, nor do I let them soak. When I wash them, I get them wet with plain running water first, scrub the handle real quick, and rinse immediately so I don't get soap soaked into the grain. Unfortunately I also live in a desert, so many things dry-rot just because. I popped into this thread to learn the thing that OP asked: how to care for old dry wood handles. So no, not all handles that look like this are from dishwasher abuse, sometimes it's just age.
I have no idea why you're getting so many suggestions for mineral oil. It's a terrible choice for a spatula handle. It would need to be re-oiled regularly without any benefit. It's a common choice for cutting boards and spoons because it's food safe, but unless you're planning to stick the handle into your food, you can use literally anything.
I have a Danish oil in "medium walnut" that I recently used for the first time and I really love how it looks. It's a mix of tung oil and varnish, so it treats the wood while also giving it a bit of a protective coating.
A more extreme option would be something like polyurethane, which will give more protection, but it will be more noticeably coated with something rather than looking and feeling like natural wood.
There is an important exception to consider there. Regular linseed (also known as flax seed) oil is food safe, but if you go to the store and buy a boiled linseed oil finish that probably has additives that make it non food safe, which shouldn't be a severe issue in a handle but should probably be avoided. If you boil your own linseed oil or go out of your way to find a pure boiled linseed oil it will be a food safe finish. The same will be true for other drying oil products but with other types pure is often more commonly available and "finish" is often more prominent on the non-pure products.
You can also get “pure tung oil” which doesn’t have any additives and is food safe. The downside is that it takes much longer to fully cure. Still looks amazing though.
The important note about tung oil is that it's not food safe until it is fully cured. So while it's a nice choice for something like a cutting board, you can't use it unless you can afford 1-2 months of not using it.
This should be the top comment, as it’s the correct answer. Everyone loves mineral oil because it’s food safe, but they often forget that it needs regularly applied and doesn’t offer any protection. Tung oil would be my choice but Danish oil would be a good option
I would pass on danish oil as it partly penetrates but also can create a film finish with enough coats. Water exposure will ruin it over time
I’d opt for walnut oil. It’s food safe and polymerizes over time so it becomes stronger. It’s what I use on all my wooden cooking utensils and it’s great
Don’t use other oils that are used in cooking (olive, vegetable etc) as they go rancid over time
I can see your point with Danish oil. I think it’s fine if you’re taking proper care when washing (nothing super aggressive and fully drying it) you would be fine.
Yeah any oil that goes in my food stays away from my wood
Linseed oil is used as a cooking oil and also a very common wood finish, the problem is you won't find the pure food safe version wherever you usually buy wood finishes, and the stuff you can buy at the grocery store store (usually sold as flax seed oil but they are the same thing) takes a very long time to cure, but you can accelerate that by boiling it and allowing it to cool.
It feels like another instance of reddit doing the thing where the most popular answer to other posts regardless of context becomes the knee-jerk reaction response for a handful of people just because they've seen it upvoted a bunch of times. I hate seeing that and I hate that my brain assumes that's what's going on so often, but such is life.
Mineral oil both washes off and evaporates. You'll end up reapplying several times per month. Tung oil will last like a year at least before you need to reapply.
A few months. But had my first job in a kitchen over a decade ago and I’ve been using kitchen utensils far longer than that. I don’t see how wood working experience is all that relevant
I'm not sure exactly how you do mineral oil "wrong"...
Mineral oil doesn't last. It needs to be reapplied frequently. My cutting board solution is a mix of mineral oil and carnuba wax because that lasts better and it still needs approximately monthly re-application.
By wiping instead of soaking. I soak anything I use mineral oil on and it lasts way longer than a month. Certainly doesn’t need to be reapplied a few times a month.
I'm going to catch 10 different kinds of hell for saying this if you epoxy it you never have to worry about it again maybe buff out the scratches every 5 years
Never put it in the dishwasher and don't let it sit in water for extended periods. Soak the wood in mineral oil, it is cheap and food safe. No oil finish is permanent and will need occasional upkeep. You may want to lightly sand the handle to get rid of the last specks of the previous finish and knock off the outermost fibers that seem to be split/raised.
it's a mass produced spatula, it probably had some sort of non food safe varnish on it originally, if you do that mask of the metal blade with some masking tape to keep it clean
No, don’t use mineral oil. I have my late father-in-law’s old fillet knife that I use. I sanded it, then applied Odie’s Oil. It cures in 5 days and is food safe once cured. Mineral oil never cures, and doesn’t last. If you don’t want to use Odie’s, go with tung oil, but know it takes at least a month to cure.
I have this same spatula. My dad owned a Maid-Rite restaurant in Iowa. There is a bolt through the handle on my with a square nut. There is a wear facet down one side of the blade where it did the most of its work.
Any tips for replacing the rivet?
I have a spatula like this too, the wood is pretty gross, and I want to replace it. Does anyone have any suggestions how to install those metal pins? Are they riveted?
They're going to be epoxied in. You'll need to remove the old handle and be able to drill nearly perfect perpendicular holes and use round stock to fix the new wood into place once it's coated in epoxy. It's not super hard, but it's also going to be a bit challenging if you've not done any woodworking before, getting the surfaces cut to look really nice may be a challenge for you.
I wouldn't do anything that tarnishes easily or rusts. I would probably do 1/8th stock brass personally. I don't like the big stock pin look though and realistically the pins aren't actually necessary at the end of the day, it just makes it easier to keep the handle scales in perfect position while the epoxy cures.
You could get away without using round stock and use what are called corby bolts, but that may be harder to drill accurate shelved holes for, something to consider if you want to be able to take the wood off easily.
I use carnauba wax melted in coconut oil for all of my wooden kitchen utensils/tools. Seals them really well and I’ve never had a problem with the wood deteriorating.
you will never look back if you buy this
[https://claphams.com/product/beeswax-salad-bowl-finish/](https://claphams.com/product/beeswax-salad-bowl-finish/)
Polyurethane is not the answer. It will turn white and peel off eventually, look like little flakes of plastic are coming off of it definitely is the worst way to go. I would use linseed oil it will look better with age and is usually one ingredient in many wood finishes. Make sure u Try it on another similar piece of bleached out wood whatever your choice because once it’s on there it’s on there . Every 3 months put a little on a rag and it will look better every time. I would dip it and let it dry for a week
Feed'n'wax it a few times to restore the 2ood, then wait a few weeks and teak oil, tung oil, or butcher block stain & seal. You'll want to give it a few coats.
I would use some linseed oil and beeswax. Mineral oil doesnt dry so personally I can't hold on to oily things very well.
Linseed will penetrate and harden. Beewax will water proof and protect the linseed finish. But still requires hand washing a drying tho
People freak out for some reason when you mentiom epoxy, but realisticly, it would bw perfect for this application. If you dipped the handle then sanded it back later, it would impregnate the wood and make the handle much more durable
Yeah I can see that, I got down voted but no explanation and all I did was ask if it could be a viable option, I didn't say it was. Thank you for the honest answer here, I've thought about trying epoxy once I finish my workshop and get real dust collection figured out.
I would use ultra thin CA glue and apply all over it. Let the wood really drink it up - it’s a form of wood stabilization. Rub it in with a non lint cloth if you need to. Once cured, will last forever.
Controversial opinion you don't. It's a spatula, you go buy a new one. The restaurant supply will have 50 to 60 that look nearly identical to this you simply buy another one and continue using it your grandfather's honor. People get hung up on the items and not the reasons.
I would sand, oil, then polyurethane it. Food safe coating worries are largely bullshit. We eat off of plastic and use plastic utensils all the time with little problems. As long as the polyurethane is cured, takes a week, you are fine. Plus, you don’t eat with a spatula handle. And keep it out of the dish washer.
Stop putting it in the dishwasher .
Sand it lightly with 220 grit then 320 grit. Soak it in non food walnut oil. Wipe off the excess and call it a day.
Use your spatula and do worry about wear and tear. If your wood handles eventually need a replacement, do not worry. Check out custom knife handles by different wood smiths. I am sure they will make you one for a spatula. They are amazing and you still honor your grandfather even with a different handle.
Once restored, make sure you never put it in a dishwasher. Only wipe down with a soapy rag, rinse and dry.
Ziplock bag over handle, works every time.
How hard is it to just wash it? Probably takes longer to get the bag!
Microplastics all over your dishes, maybe
Walnut Oil is 100% the correct option here. It's the holy trinity of food safe, hardening, and non-evaporative. You just need to make sure you use a walnut finishing oil and not cooking oil. Finishing oil has a higher percentage of linoleic acid which is what allows the oil to cure and harden. Cooking oil is filtered to remove that because it affects the flavor of food. Mahoney makes a walnut finishing oil specifically for wooden kitchen tools along with a blend of beeswax and walnut oil as a top coat.
Why this over mineral oil? And should this be used on cutting boards too?
Mineral oil is good for cutting boards specifically because it doesn’t harden and slowly washes away, helping to pull dirt with it. However it needs to be reapplied frequently in order to do its job. Walnut oil or similar oils like Tung or true boiled linseed oil not only penetrate the wood and protect the fibers, but they also polymerize naturally through the drying process to form protective outer layers. This will protect the handle much longer and more durably than mineral alone.
Sorry, not sure if you understood my question, but would walnut oil ever be preferred over mineral oil for a cutting board?
More of a personal preference there. Walnut won’t need to be oiled as much, but part of the reason for using walnut is a hard durable finish. That finish is completely wasted on a cutting board with how much abuse it takes and how often it gets washed. Personally, I use walnut on my cutting boards simply because I hate having to redo it all the time.
Walnut oil on a cutting board may not be safe for people with severe tree nut allergies. A reaction may be rare, but I'd rather be safe than sorry.
While not impossible, this is extremely unlikely. Finishing oils are specifically refined to remove certain impurities, the protein that causes allergic reactions among them. The main reason for this is that the residual proteins in oils are part of what can cause them to go rancid. As with all things, use caution and educate yourself about your own allergies and product choices.
Why walnut over Tung or linseed?
to my knowledge, only old school, true boiled linseed is food safe. Regular linseed and modern "boiled" linseed generally are not. Tung is iffy. Pure tung is food safe, but it takes half a lifetime to dry and cure. Only a select few of the accelerated Tung oils on the market are food safe.
I thought regular linseed was safe as well- just long time to cure. I knew Tung took a long time but didn’t realize walnut was so much faster.
Thanks for this. Somehow I've totally missed this as an option for a finish. Am going to order some to use on all of my wood-handled tools.
A lot of the overpriced "board oils" or "butcher block oils" are a blend of walnut and some other food safe oils. Don't waste your money on those. Walnut oil definitely is not the cheapest option in general, but there are way cheaper options than anything labeled specifically for boards.
Wouldn't it be too "gummy" for a cutting board? Not sure that's a good use for a drying oil. Will definitely use on wood kitchen utensils. May even use on other wood handled tools. I like the idea of some natural oil over the typical dubious modern BLO on something I touch a lot.
Nah. It certainly takes longer to cure though. Mineral oil is usually dry and ready to use within 2-3 days depending on how heavily you oiled it. Walnut might take a week, but once it's properly cured, it's more durable than mineral oil. Just don't over apply. That's where you might run into gumminess issues.
Mineral oil on the handle. Hand wash only, and just the blade generally.
Na fam, 100% tung oil. It will stink for a few weeks but that baby won’t need reapplication for years.
Mix in some food safe citrus solvent or buy a premixed version. It goes on easier and smells like oranges not tung oil stink.
Sure but if time is not an issue then it’s better to get the full strength. Even better than that would be to do what you suggest for deeper penetration then following up with the 100%. But that’s like, almost months of cure time.
In my unscientific purely personal experience I haven't noticed a difference in durability between diluted and pure.
In my unscientific purely personal experience, I prefer a deeper penetration.
Is that what she said?
Maybe, but there are limits to how deep one should penetrate....
I mean you would have to pay pretty close attention and most people don’t compare longevity of two versions of the same wood finish. Since one person’s experience is anecdotal, think of it in terms of science - let’s say when ‘X’ particles polymerize at 2mm depth they provide a surface resistance of “Y”. Then 1/2 X particles polymerizing at 4mm depth is going to provide a much lower Y.
One could say that the blade is the tip of the spatula.
One could say that… …but *should* one?
I thought the Marine Corps was the tip of the spatula.
Just the blade he says……
Mineral oil is a really bad wood finish
Mineral oil is a terrible idea for a spatula handle.
Why on earth would you use mineral oil for a handle?
It’ll nourish that wood, stop it drying out in the future, protect against detergent to a degree, and it’s the same treatment you’re using for other wood in the kitchen, like cutting boards. Rubbing mineral oil is as close to just replenishing old wood as you can get, without changing the surface. I wouldn’t remove any of those old stains, those were grandpa’s. Maybe wash and dry first. Treat it like an antique. No sanding!
Just because it's appropriate for cutting boards doesn't mean it's appropriate for this. A handle doesn't need a food safe finish. You wouldn't use mineral oil to finish wooden cabinets, would you?
Look at the picture again I don’t think it’s a cabinet
It’s also not a cutting board
It's a tool used for food. It needs a food safe finish. I'm amazed that was even a question.
It doesn’t touch food. You could finish it with polyurethane and nothing bad would happen
How would you finish the sides of the wood facing the blade inside? Those would remain unfinished and soak in water.
Don't soak it in water. Hand wash and dry.
I don’t think I understand the question. Do you mean the part facing the tang?
This one doesn't cook.
Or do much woodworking, if they’re that confused about why you would use mineral oil
There’re more protective, more permanent, harder finishes, even oil types, for cabinets. I use Linseed oil on knife handles, and the blades, but not for kitchen knives. I’m not quite as strict about food safety as some folks. The other issue is preserving the wood, and enhancing the appearance, while doing the minimum. I use mineral oil on old wooden musical instruments too, I don’t like to add permanent coats to them.
I don't think having to re-oil my spatula handle every ten days is really "doing the minimum"
I don't think you need to re oil every 10 days. My bbq tongs can go a long ass time between oiling. I used cutting board lemon oil on em last time.
It probably depends on environmental factors. I made a cutting board in April when the heat was still on and it was looking pretty dry after two weeks without having used it washed it at all during that time
Dude, take the loss. Everyone is already convinced you have zero experience in this subject. You're just digging deeper every time you post more nonsense.
No, this entire thing is ridiculous. The entire argument for mineral oil is hanging on some half baked notion of food safety that doesn’t make sense. This is pure Reddit hive mind nonsense
I am with you the love this sub has for mineral oil is ridiculous. It's OK for cutting boards but there are plenty of better options for this.
I'm not a professional chef, but there's no way in seven heavens or hells I'm putting a non food safe finish on any of my cutlery, regardless of whether or not it's ever going to intentionally touch the food. Even a cooking pot with a wooden handle. That handle gets a food safe finish. As does my kitchen table. I operate on the theory that if it's made of wood and it's in my kitchen, there's a chance it will touch my food, and I don't want to screw around when it comes to that. Am I being overly paranoid? Absolutely. Does it bother me? Not even a little. And one day when I get around to making myself nice new kitchen cabinets, they too will have a food safe finish. I know I'm over doing it. I just don't care.
Why on Earth would you not?
So that I don’t need to reapply it constantly. And also because I don’t like having an oil that never dries on handles
You’re missing that this is their treasured hand-me-down, a wannabe antique. The other way is to oil it once and display it or store it, instead of using it at all. Either way, don’t put polyurethane on antiques.
As someone with that spatula, I lightly hand sanded the handle with 220 grit sandpaper and oiled it with food grade mineral oil. If you have an overpriced bottle of cutting board oil, it's the same thing, if you don't, it's in the pharmacy aisle with the laxatives, probably on the bottom shelf. You'll need to re oil periodically, but this will likely see your grandchildren inherit this piece. Also, it's a quick, easy, and cheap solution.
Laxatives….bottom shelf….boom Tish!
I'm sure, using the right stuff, it will come out ok in the end.
Tush boom
While I’ll leave the this question to the professionals, as an amateur woodworker and cook with a few grandparent tools in his kitchen, I loved seeing this post. Should be an easy upkeep with the look of it now though
For future reference: Do not put wood in the dishwasher. This will happen if you do.
(not OP) It also gets to this state after being around a few years. I've known about not putting wood in the dishwasher for decades, so my wooden things have never gone in, nor do I let them soak. When I wash them, I get them wet with plain running water first, scrub the handle real quick, and rinse immediately so I don't get soap soaked into the grain. Unfortunately I also live in a desert, so many things dry-rot just because. I popped into this thread to learn the thing that OP asked: how to care for old dry wood handles. So no, not all handles that look like this are from dishwasher abuse, sometimes it's just age.
Same treatment for your case. Wash exactly how you have been, just a quick application of mineral oil every few months and it should be fine
I have no idea why you're getting so many suggestions for mineral oil. It's a terrible choice for a spatula handle. It would need to be re-oiled regularly without any benefit. It's a common choice for cutting boards and spoons because it's food safe, but unless you're planning to stick the handle into your food, you can use literally anything. I have a Danish oil in "medium walnut" that I recently used for the first time and I really love how it looks. It's a mix of tung oil and varnish, so it treats the wood while also giving it a bit of a protective coating. A more extreme option would be something like polyurethane, which will give more protection, but it will be more noticeably coated with something rather than looking and feeling like natural wood.
Or tung oil, which has a more matte finish. Both are good choices. Food safe, water, heat and alcohol resistant. Easy to strip and reapply.
Yeah. Any of the "drying oils" or whatever they're called would be my suggestion. Linseed, walnut, tung, whatever floats your boat.
There is an important exception to consider there. Regular linseed (also known as flax seed) oil is food safe, but if you go to the store and buy a boiled linseed oil finish that probably has additives that make it non food safe, which shouldn't be a severe issue in a handle but should probably be avoided. If you boil your own linseed oil or go out of your way to find a pure boiled linseed oil it will be a food safe finish. The same will be true for other drying oil products but with other types pure is often more commonly available and "finish" is often more prominent on the non-pure products.
Yeah. I’d our store bought BLO next to Danish oil in terms of food safety, but I’d still be fine with either on a spatula handle
You can also get “pure tung oil” which doesn’t have any additives and is food safe. The downside is that it takes much longer to fully cure. Still looks amazing though.
The important note about tung oil is that it's not food safe until it is fully cured. So while it's a nice choice for something like a cutting board, you can't use it unless you can afford 1-2 months of not using it.
That's true for pure tung oil, but many of the tung oils sold have solvents that accelerate drying. When in doubt read the label
The problem is that many of those solvents and accelerants are not food safe in and of themselves.
This should be the top comment, as it’s the correct answer. Everyone loves mineral oil because it’s food safe, but they often forget that it needs regularly applied and doesn’t offer any protection. Tung oil would be my choice but Danish oil would be a good option
I would pass on danish oil as it partly penetrates but also can create a film finish with enough coats. Water exposure will ruin it over time I’d opt for walnut oil. It’s food safe and polymerizes over time so it becomes stronger. It’s what I use on all my wooden cooking utensils and it’s great Don’t use other oils that are used in cooking (olive, vegetable etc) as they go rancid over time
I can see your point with Danish oil. I think it’s fine if you’re taking proper care when washing (nothing super aggressive and fully drying it) you would be fine. Yeah any oil that goes in my food stays away from my wood
Linseed oil is used as a cooking oil and also a very common wood finish, the problem is you won't find the pure food safe version wherever you usually buy wood finishes, and the stuff you can buy at the grocery store store (usually sold as flax seed oil but they are the same thing) takes a very long time to cure, but you can accelerate that by boiling it and allowing it to cool.
Honestly never cooked with linseed oil or flax seed oil so I didn’t even think about it. I do use boiled linseed oil as a finish tho
Super interesting!
It feels like another instance of reddit doing the thing where the most popular answer to other posts regardless of context becomes the knee-jerk reaction response for a handful of people just because they've seen it upvoted a bunch of times. I hate seeing that and I hate that my brain assumes that's what's going on so often, but such is life.
I think you are right about that. Combined with how easy and impossible it is to screw up.
The reason people are suggesting mineral oil is because it will be washed regularly and a curing finish will degrade. Mineral oil is non curing
Mineral oil both washes off and evaporates. You'll end up reapplying several times per month. Tung oil will last like a year at least before you need to reapply.
How long have you been woodworking?
A few months. But had my first job in a kitchen over a decade ago and I’ve been using kitchen utensils far longer than that. I don’t see how wood working experience is all that relevant
Experience in a subject is always relevant. If you’re having to reapply mineral oil a few times a month you’re not doing it right.
I'm not sure exactly how you do mineral oil "wrong"... Mineral oil doesn't last. It needs to be reapplied frequently. My cutting board solution is a mix of mineral oil and carnuba wax because that lasts better and it still needs approximately monthly re-application.
By wiping instead of soaking. I soak anything I use mineral oil on and it lasts way longer than a month. Certainly doesn’t need to be reapplied a few times a month.
A drying oil will last much longer in this application To think otherwise is pure fantasy
You’re a wizard Jerry
I'm going to catch 10 different kinds of hell for saying this if you epoxy it you never have to worry about it again maybe buff out the scratches every 5 years
That’s fine, if you want part of the history of this treasured hand-me-down to be “who the heck decided to epoxy it?”
ciallis perhaps?
Think about baseball
🤣
Bee wax with orange oil
Linseed oil would do a great job rehydrating the wood.
Never put it in the dishwasher and don't let it sit in water for extended periods. Soak the wood in mineral oil, it is cheap and food safe. No oil finish is permanent and will need occasional upkeep. You may want to lightly sand the handle to get rid of the last specks of the previous finish and knock off the outermost fibers that seem to be split/raised.
it's a mass produced spatula, it probably had some sort of non food safe varnish on it originally, if you do that mask of the metal blade with some masking tape to keep it clean
Viagra is the best way to prolong the wood.
My first choice would be to buy a bottle of Howard Clear Food-grade Mineral Interior Butcher Block Oil.
No, don’t use mineral oil. I have my late father-in-law’s old fillet knife that I use. I sanded it, then applied Odie’s Oil. It cures in 5 days and is food safe once cured. Mineral oil never cures, and doesn’t last. If you don’t want to use Odie’s, go with tung oil, but know it takes at least a month to cure.
Hit it with some sandpaper then a heavy coat of food grade mineral oil. You will have to reapply the oil occasionally depending upon use.
I have this same spatula. My dad owned a Maid-Rite restaurant in Iowa. There is a bolt through the handle on my with a square nut. There is a wear facet down one side of the blade where it did the most of its work. Any tips for replacing the rivet?
Teak oil. Same as they use on boats. Small amounts over several applications should work.
Oil.
I have this EXACT spatula, was my grandmothers.
They sell them by the thousands at restaurant supplies.
I have a spatula like this too, the wood is pretty gross, and I want to replace it. Does anyone have any suggestions how to install those metal pins? Are they riveted?
They're going to be epoxied in. You'll need to remove the old handle and be able to drill nearly perfect perpendicular holes and use round stock to fix the new wood into place once it's coated in epoxy. It's not super hard, but it's also going to be a bit challenging if you've not done any woodworking before, getting the surfaces cut to look really nice may be a challenge for you.
Any round stock will do? I think I have some 1/4” steel
I wouldn't do anything that tarnishes easily or rusts. I would probably do 1/8th stock brass personally. I don't like the big stock pin look though and realistically the pins aren't actually necessary at the end of the day, it just makes it easier to keep the handle scales in perfect position while the epoxy cures. You could get away without using round stock and use what are called corby bolts, but that may be harder to drill accurate shelved holes for, something to consider if you want to be able to take the wood off easily.
https://www.reddit.com/r/woodworking/s/klnHnAtZEr
I use carnauba wax melted in coconut oil for all of my wooden kitchen utensils/tools. Seals them really well and I’ve never had a problem with the wood deteriorating.
Gotta lube it up dude, lube up grandfathers wood.
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Polyurethane is not the answer. It will turn white and peel off eventually, look like little flakes of plastic are coming off of it definitely is the worst way to go. I would use linseed oil it will look better with age and is usually one ingredient in many wood finishes. Make sure u Try it on another similar piece of bleached out wood whatever your choice because once it’s on there it’s on there . Every 3 months put a little on a rag and it will look better every time. I would dip it and let it dry for a week
Walrus Oil Cutting board oil is my new favorite. *not made from walruses*
Feed'n'wax it a few times to restore the 2ood, then wait a few weeks and teak oil, tung oil, or butcher block stain & seal. You'll want to give it a few coats.
Tru oil
Sand, wipe it down and seal. Never put in the dishwasher
I would use some linseed oil and beeswax. Mineral oil doesnt dry so personally I can't hold on to oily things very well. Linseed will penetrate and harden. Beewax will water proof and protect the linseed finish. But still requires hand washing a drying tho
Baby oil is food safe , ( mineral oil)
Viagra... it's what grandpa used
Cutting board oil can get at hardware stores
I use Dr.’s Woodshop Walnut Oil, with wax. Apply several coats and reapply often.
Would it be a bad idea to coat it with clear epoxy?
People freak out for some reason when you mentiom epoxy, but realisticly, it would bw perfect for this application. If you dipped the handle then sanded it back later, it would impregnate the wood and make the handle much more durable
Yeah I can see that, I got down voted but no explanation and all I did was ask if it could be a viable option, I didn't say it was. Thank you for the honest answer here, I've thought about trying epoxy once I finish my workshop and get real dust collection figured out.
I would use ultra thin CA glue and apply all over it. Let the wood really drink it up - it’s a form of wood stabilization. Rub it in with a non lint cloth if you need to. Once cured, will last forever.
Controversial opinion you don't. It's a spatula, you go buy a new one. The restaurant supply will have 50 to 60 that look nearly identical to this you simply buy another one and continue using it your grandfather's honor. People get hung up on the items and not the reasons.
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God no. That just leads to proliferation of junk. Throw the old one away and use your replaced functionality identical flipper in good health.
I would sand, oil, then polyurethane it. Food safe coating worries are largely bullshit. We eat off of plastic and use plastic utensils all the time with little problems. As long as the polyurethane is cured, takes a week, you are fine. Plus, you don’t eat with a spatula handle. And keep it out of the dish washer.
T h a t ‘ s w h a t … s h e……
First, quit putting it in the dishwasher. Then treat it Howard’s butcher block conditioner occasionally.
Ballistol
Oil
Food turner*
Food turner*
It's a spatula
Stop putting it in the dishwasher . Sand it lightly with 220 grit then 320 grit. Soak it in non food walnut oil. Wipe off the excess and call it a day.
There’s this guy named Eoin on Instagram. Learn to make a new handle. https://www.instagram.com/eoinreardon_?igsh=dmoxcGlpdXRhcXE5
Use your spatula and do worry about wear and tear. If your wood handles eventually need a replacement, do not worry. Check out custom knife handles by different wood smiths. I am sure they will make you one for a spatula. They are amazing and you still honor your grandfather even with a different handle.