@jamesbisset

Im rubbing down a hickory axe handle with Danish oil today so if you like I can send you a selection of free ones in various stages of oil.

@jamesbisset I’m presuming this isn’t a serious question!? 

Don't use a WD40 rag when you should be using an oily rag, the pros will know you're an amateur because you're confusing WD40 with oil and either sneer or laugh.. or both at the same time (would that be a snaugh?) 

I had an oily rag once but I had to let her go. She was just too… oily… and raggy, is that even a word?!?

So, for the sake of all the other newbies on here, can someone please gives us instructions on making an oily rag?

lint free? Cotton? Acrylic? Three-in-one? Engine oil? Where does WD40 fit in?

@jamesbisset For everyone interested in building guitars and especially if you want to paint them, PLEASE DO NOT USE WD40 FOR ANYTHING. 

WD40 and similar products (anything silicone based) are the absolute enemy of paint. You will get so many problems with painting if there is WD40 within a square mile of your project. Trust me, don’t wipe things down with it. 

@boo considering how much money people will pay for a reliced guitar maybe there's a business opportunity here for a whole new class of buggered finish?

considering how much money people will pay for a reliced guitar maybe there's a business opportunity here for a whole new class of buggered finish?

@jonhodgson 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 Well, never say never. 👍

@mattbeels 

Trust you to lower the tone of the conversation 

WD40 is mostly fish oil in case anyone didn’t know.

@rocknroller912 salmon, trout, makrel?

PLEASE DO NOT USE WD40 FOR ANYTHING. 

Thanks for that @boo. That explains the flaking paint on a refurb I did a few years ago.

My partner’s dad was a watchmender. She knew that cleaning a watch might include flooding the mechanism with oil. So when she was a wee girl, she prised open a watch and filled it with Three-in-one. The watch never worked again. A little knowledge can be a dangerous thing.

An oily rag is often recommended to clean and protect metal surfaces, especially blades. I reckon I’m going to keep an old microfibre cloth in a tub with some three-in-one. I’ve also got Danish oil, lamp oil, two stroke oil and a variety of cooking oils. But unless someone tells me otherwise, I’m not going to use those for a rubdown.

@tej

Im not very sure which fish oil but I heard an old radio programme a while ago where the company that was commissioned by the US Govt to find a rust protection/treatment talked about trying different things and Water Displacement 40 was the one that worked after 39 attempts failed. It must be an oily fish like mackerel.

There's no fish oil in it, that's an urban myth that's actually mentioned on their website "Myths and Fun Facts" page.

The exact formula is a secret, but between the information they have to provide on safety sheets and a mass spectroscopy study commissioned by WIRED magazine some years back it seems to be mostly mineral oil and alkanes.

Just to clarify for the newbies (and bike mechanics😬) - Your common or garden oily rags and guitar workshops don't mix. 😲

We don't have normal oily rags as they are dirty.🤮 or anything oily and dirty or greasy for that matter...

But this is not to be confused with 'Finishing oil'

'Finishing oil' is nothing like engine oil, or any other lube, or WD40 - no relation. Finishing Oil is sticky till it dries hard - not great on your bearings.. 

However

You'll need a rag to apply the finishing oil if that is what you are using - old white T-shirt or sheet is best as it is already 'lint free' having been washed a load of times (hopefully)....Lint is just small loose particles of dust and fibres in the textile (so I am led to believe) - a right pain if you are using it for cleaning or finishing (fact).

TLDR:

An Oily Rag in my workshop is one that was used to apply finishing oil.

Looks like I’m in trouble, my bike mechanic workshop and my guitar workshop are the same place.

When I first saw ‘oily rag’ I started thinking Cockney Rhyming Slang - oily - oily rag - fag - cigarette…… 🤩……..

Agree with Mark - need to keep things clean - evict the bikes……

@rocknroller912 salmon, trout, makrel?

In @JamesBisset's case, duck oil will be more appropriate than fish oil.

An Oily Rag in my workshop is one that was used to apply finishing oil.

Thanks Mark, and thanks to everyone else. All really useful info.

And turns out that an oily rag means different things to different people (including @mattbeels). Who knew!