# Liberon finishing oil - food safe?



## Rob_H (29 Aug 2008)

I've used Liberon finishing oil on an elm chopping board I made - I can't seem to see if it's food safe. Anyone?


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## Wanlock Dod (17 Sep 2008)

If I was after a "food safe" finish I'd tend to go for the Chestnut one of the same name, although I think you get a better finish from e.g. tung oil. I know that tung oil is claimed to be non-toxic, whereas linseed is labelled as harmful (covers a multitude of sins and might just mean don't drink it straight from th ebottle or have a bath in it).

I expect that if it's good and dry (might be a few weeks?) you are unlikely to come to any harm at all, but maybe not ideal if you're planning to sell stuff on a well suited to food use.

Cheers,

Dod


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## Rob_H (19 Sep 2008)

Thanks - I'll have a look at the Chestnut range


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## Wanlock Dod (19 Sep 2008)

Hi Rob,

Beeing a bit of a geek, curiosity got the better of me. It turns out that linseed oil might be a skin irritant (see), and actually a lot of suppliers don't consider it to require classification (see). So it might not actually be very poisonous at all, but it's really not going to be a good idea to have a bath in it.

For my own use, I think I'd use it as I think it's a great finish, if I was selling stuff I'd be tempted by the Chestnut mineral oil stuff. One thing worth bearing in mind though is that the finish itself isn't that great. It needs to be replenished pretty regularly to look good, even after an initial half dozen coats or so, if it is in regular use. I don't find it's a problem though for stuff that is used a lot, it's really not difficult to give it a quick wipe, and it dries pretty quickly (about 20 or 30 minutes). Mind you, I think that lots of finishes would be pretty knackered after a few minuted on a bread board. Actually I especially like it on sycamore because it doesn't impart any colour, although thats probably not what you're after if you're using linseed oil I suppose.

Cheers,

Dod


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## Jake (20 Sep 2008)

The issue may be the driers in BLO, rather than the oil itself (linseed is edible). Driers tend to be heavy metal-based, I think, so sensibly avoided for food thingummies.


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