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Dunno about Aloe, but I have used a plain hand soap with a lanolin additive. It doesn't shine, or darken as much as mineral oil, but does appear to coat the chip against dirt, and chip ruboff, just as mineral oil does. And the 'lanolin-ed' chips don't seem to be as slippery as the one's treated with mineral oil.
Maybe a middle-of-the-road alternate? -fwiw.
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I would agree with that though. We use soaps and oils, and other stuff in our business, for natural stone care (stone and these clay chips are somewhat similar in compostion)
A common soap that would be appropriate is Murphy's Oil Soap, which i would use rather than hand soap, which does have other stuff in it like conditioners, which are oils and/or waxes, including possibly lanolin, which might make them kind of greasy.
Oil Soap is essentially de-fatted vegtable oil, which makes it water-soluble. Soap is a bigger molecule than most oils, so it stays more on the surface, meaning it will darken less (a positive or negative depending on your goal.) It is also less greasy, and probably will be less slippery. The water-solubility of soap means that while they may build up on the surface and attract dirt to a degree, they can be cleaned easily with more soap and water.
I would absolutely use mineral oil (a product of clay and other rocks) rather than food or animal oils as the risks of oxidation is zero, and basically, no bacteria will grow in it. Food oils absolutely go rancid when oxidized, as well as when heated. A good experiment is to grease up your 500 dollar clay set, and throw it in your trunk for a while. Probably nothing bad will happen, but let us know.
Mineral oil has a particularly fine-molecule, and penetrates and darkens as well as anything we've tried, it darkens nearly as much as the surface when the pores are wet. The filp side of this is that It's also slippery and greasy as can be. It does seem to dry, and continue to soak in a bit after application, so slipperyness may not be a problem after a while.
Bees and other waxes and waxy oils like lanolin would work fine also, but they are larger than soap, and will more stay on the surface, might build up a bit, and cant be washed with water to remove. Waxes are probably the least slippery.
Someone mentioned that perhaps there's less dust on some chips, therefore effecting it's look. I have to say my ASM's came in really clean, and i don't think the oiling is worth the effort, it doesn't change them much by my eye...
Someone else mentioned that this is all about quality time with your chips, which is about the truest thing said, so have at it...
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