[johnnyjersey]

Just oiled my Paulson Jb's...I feel as if there is a slight trade off that may be of some value to you all.
I bought a set of 300 jb's not too long ago, and decided to oil about 40 of them...20 of the blues...and 20 of the reds. The colors are no doubt a little sharper...and it seems like the oiling additionally seems to clean them up and reduce the "shedding" that may occur with new Jb's. Also...I feel as if the feel of my oiled chips may have improved. This is probably not news to anyone...
I used the oil very sparingly...just a drop on my fingers per 3-4 chips. I may say however...that my chips have gotten just a slight bit slicker with the addition of the oil. While the chalkiness of the new jb's may have been initially unattractive...they did give the chips a little more "grip" when moving around medium to large stacks around the table...
I know what you are thinking...That "I over oiled the chips"...but that is hardly the case...
I am thus faced with the dilemma of whether or not I should oil the rest of my set or not.... opinions? The chips were oiled 2 weeks ago...

[panthershutch15]

I have a set that I chose to have "break in" naturally. That just seemed to be the right choice for me. Also, I haven't experienced any of the horror stories about the colors shedding after about 20 hours of play. This is probably due to there being 400 chips rather than 10 chips constantly being shuffled for hours.

I would not oil them, but that is because I ruled that out as an option for me in the beginning.

In your case, I would probably oil them so all of the chips have the same look and feel.

[johnnyjersey]

thanks...i actually just may keep those babies oiled...and leave the rest "o' naturale." I'm figuring the oiled ones will just blend in with the others over time. Any other thoughts or experiences about this....?

[Cin0s3]

I've had mine for a little while now and have cleaned them about 4 times so far. I took a couple and oiled them the other days and they dont look any different from the ones that arent oiled. So I say just let em roll o'natural and eventually they will look good from normal use/cleaning.

[badfish]

just keep shuffling stacks that are half oiled and half natural....they'll even out.

[tomb1]

Originally Posted by johnnyjersey

I am thus faced with the dilemma of whether or not I should oil the rest of my set or not.... opinions? The chips were oiled 2 weeks ago...

I'm an oil man myself, but my Paulson's are mostly for collecting, not playing. (Though it's a real treat when I use all my mixed Paulson $5's once in a while in a game!)

I definitely agree that the oil "seals" the chips a little bit (and that's not really the right word, but I can't think of a better one). It makes the clay a little less porous, and thus a little "harder." Sort of like a rubbed-oil finish on wood -- still a porous wood feel but definitely not like bare wood.

If you're going to be playing a lot with these chips, I would let them wear in naturally. But if the "shedding" of the loose porous clay gets too bad and discolors other chips, then oil them.

[hayaku]

i oiled my paulsons and NJ clays and i love them, not to slick either, just dry them well.

[johnnyjersey]

yeah the "slickness" I speak about is very very minor...however just enough to tick off a crazy nut like me. I must admit however...the 5 dollar chips look tremendous after oiling...such a tough call here! thanks for all the advice, I appreciate it. - JJersey

[Schoey12]

Could you post some pictures so we can see the difference, although it may be small.

[yeltzen]

I'm having the same problem with my Pharaoh's. I've oiled about 60 of them and they are extremely slick now. They look fantastic, though, so I'm not sure which tradeoff I like better. The oiled ones won't get very dirty, but the slickness is kind of bothering me. Stupid poker chips.