Mineral Oil?

[ZackAllen]

Did I read somewhere that it is a good idea to use Mineral Oil on new chips like Paulson, Blue Chip etc? I was going to test this on my Paulson James Bond samples I got in preparation for the Egyptian buy.

[ks]

I've read that too on pokerchipsreview. Check out there.

[jojobinks]

Originally Posted by ks

I've read that too on pokerchipsreview. Check out there.

i've never done it, but apparently it works. what also works is to do nothing and let the chips break in on their own. they don't really need to be broken in at all.

[TenPercenter]

Yes, it works like a charm. A driop or two per chip, rub it in with a terry cloth, and wipe it off. It'll continue to soak in over time. It really brings out the colors.

Just a dab'll do ya!

[Bhudio]

How about a mass cleaning. I can understand how you'd want to keep you valuable chips in mint condition but what if you've got a set of 500 of more and the grime is starting to pile up. Any suggestions for a quick and easy method?

[PokerChipReviews]

No...for the mineral oil method, there is not 'fast and easy'. It's pretty slow work with great results.

For 'fast and easy' take your chips to your local busy casino, dump them off, come back in a couple days and ask for them back. Oh yeah...and good luck.

[Night_Owl]

I use a different oil product to enhance the look and feel of the new Paulson JB chips as well as my older clay chips.

First I would like to present some observations I have made about the untreated clay chips. I have found that the JB samples I have do get dirty very quickly, but the dirt is not coming from your hands as long as your hands are fairly clean. The dirt is coming from the darker chips and edge spots, especially that wonderful black chip. You can demonstrate this by taking a clean orange chip and a clean black chip and just rub them together while applying a little force. You’ll see that the dirt on the orange chip is actually material that has rubbed off of the darker chip. This dirtying effect will of course be much less once the chips are stacked and shuffled with chips of the same color. The untreated chips will still get dirty because they will occasionally contact darker colored chips (splashing into the pot etc.), but at a much slower rate.

The product that I use to treat my clay chips is called spoon oil. It is a product that was developed to preserve and protect wooden spoons, utensils and butcher blocks, which is what I used it for in the past. It is a mixture of primarily mineral oil and bees wax. The consistency is a little thicker that mineral oil by it’s self. A little like hand lotion. A 4oz bottle of it will treat about 1,000 chips. It is more expensive than the mineral oil, but it has some advantages over the plain mineral oil. First is seems to last longer than mineral oil. I’ve never had to retreat any chips that I have treated once at least in the last 5 years. Second it makes the chips look and feel better. The colors seem deeper and there is a slight luster to the chips and the surface of the chips become even less slick. I even have to say it even makes them sound a little better by slightly lowering the pitch they make when they click together. Third, it prevents the chips from getting dirty. Even with almost constant shuffling of my two sets of Paulson JB samples and carrying them around in my pockets for the past month, they show no signs of becoming “dirty”. Last but not least is that it makes the chips wear much slower. This is probably why they don’t get dirty.

If anyone is as OSD as I am about my clay chips you can find spoon oil online at Wood ‘N Wares http://www.woodnwares.bigstep.com/ca...l?UCIDs=694703

[tomb1]

[From another posting...]

I'm a supporter of oiling clay chips. Especially the new Paulson JBs, if you think they are too "dusty" or if the darker chips are rubbing off on the lighter chips.

Of course, everybody has their own technique with clay chips. Here's mine.

I take a drop or two of oil on my fingers and rub into each chip for about 5 secs. I can usually get 2-3 chips done before getting a few more drops of oil. I like to make sure I get some oil down into the indented/molded parts (the hats & canes or letters or horseheads or whatever). I set the chips down for a few minutes while I get through a dozen or so, then go back and wipe them lightly with a paper towel, especially wiping the inlays (which don't need oil).

After a big batch is done, I rub them around in my hands/fingers to finish the job. I leave them out loosely for a few hours (sometimes) then put them back in racks. I might wipe off the inlays again if they seem oily at that point

I like the blue paper shop towels from Home Depot or Lowe's, they're much better than regular paper towels.

As far as oiling them immediately or playing with them a little bit, I've done it both ways without much difference. However, if your chips arrive pretty dusty, I would rub/wipe/shake/blow this off before playing with them or putting them away.

I'm the impatient type so I don't let them "soak in" for 24 hours like some people suggest. It's probably a good idea, I just don't have the patience. (And I mean soak in the oil applied by hand, NOT let them soak in a bath of oil for 24 hours!)

BTW, I have always used pure Mineral Oil with great success. I notice that NightOwl suggests "spoon oil" and I may give that a try. But I will test it first because I'm a little concerned about the beeswax in the spoon oil. I like to keep a "porous" surface on the clays, and not really "seal" them. I like the way they wear and would be concerned about a harder wax seal. But NightOwl makes some good points about shine on the colors and durability, plus a little sound difference, so I'll probably give it a try.

[MSPatton]

I too am a great advocate of oiling chips. I use this method....

Start with a clean cloth. I use an automotive type polishing cloth as they
have minimal lint. Place a small amount of Mineral oil (about the size
of a quarter) in one corner. Let it sit a minute to disperse through the
cloth. Pinch the cloth between your thumb and fore finger and place
the chip in between with the pressure on the front and back faces outside
edges trying not to put pressure on the inlay. Spin the chip 3 to 4 rotations
between your fingers and lay on a clean towel. I lay mine out like this
overnight. Next day lightly rub any excess of with a new polishing cloth.
I can do well over 100 chips per hour while watching the golf channel.

Michael

[hayaku]

I put a few drops of mineral oil per chip and rub it into the chip with my fingers then i wipe it dry with a microfiber cloth. The clay chips colors just comes out beautiful after that.