Oiled my chips - now they are slippery (1 Viewer)

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Eightninesuited

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Hey all.

So I tested oiling my Crazy Horse (Milano) China Clay chips. So far, I’ve done about 12 and let it dry overnight.

The chips look really nice compared to how they came in.

But I notice that the chips are very slick and doesn’t feel good in hand. I can’t even push 12 chips in a stack on my felt without it exploding on me. There are no spinners or anything like that. They just don’t grip the bottom chip as well as they used to.

On the non-oiled chips, I can push a stack of 20 no problem (on left of oiled stack in pic).

Now I’m 2nd guessing if should oil the rest of my chips. While I do like how they look oiled, I am not willing to trade of stacking and playability.

FYI, this is my 1st oil job. I used IKEA mineral oil and used a small amount with my fingers on the chips. Then I dried it with paper towel and left it overnight.

Any advice would be appreciated. Do oiled chips lose stacking grip?
 

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Ok. First thing. You probably used too much oil. If you have a bottle of mineral oil, a half of a cap full spread out on a cloth is more than enough to oil two or three hundred chips. You don't want to soak chips. in oil, but just enough to shake the factory dust off and give it a thin coat.

Second, let them dry on the paper towel without them being stacked for at least two days. The oil will dissipate as long as you don't stack them like you have. Should look something like this when you oil
20221103_224651.jpg
 
ChipsLooker said:
Forgive my ignorance on this subject but what exactly does mineral oil do for the chips? Another dive for info ahead I guess!
Click to expand...

a lot of clay chips look a little dusty and faded so oil brings out the color. makes them a little brighter. But its by preference. I dont oil my chips, but some people like the way it looks better
 
JMC9389 said:
Ok. First thing. You probably used too much oil. If you have a bottle of mineral oil, a half of a cap full spread out on a cloth is more than enough to oil two or three hundred chips. You don't want to soak chips. in oil, but just enough to shake the factory dust off and give it a thin coat.

Second, let them dry on the paper towel without them being stacked for at least two days. The oil will dissipate as long as you don't stack them like you have. Should look something like this when you oilView attachment 1481006
Click to expand...
I used a very small amount. The chips are dry. I put them in stack to see how they stack for the pic. They were laid out like yours for nearly a day.
 
Try wiping them off with a dry rag and see how they shuffle.

China clays don’t need oil, just a quick rinse with water.
 
For those that say china clays (particularly older versions) aren't porous enough to adequately accept oil (for cosmetic and protective purposes), try this:

Instead of oil, thouroughly rub down the chips with peanut butter or lemonade. Wipe off the excess, and let dry overnight (or a couple of days, if you prefer). Afterwards, set the chips outdoors in a shaded area.

Then let me know the ant count. If nothing penetrated into the chips, it should be zero.
 
Eightninesuited said:
I used a very small amount. The chips are dry. I put them in stack to see how they stack for the pic. They were laid out like yours for nearly a day.
Click to expand...
You did not let them dry enough. You should have them on paper towels for a minimum of 2 to 3 days, preferably in a room with a ceiling fan turned on, flipping them at least once a day. Any excess oil that does not soak into the chips will be absorbed in the paper towels. Proper oiling takes patience and time.
 
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Firstly, mineral oil doesn’t evaporate. At least, the amount is negligible. So with Paulson, CPC etc clays, leaving them out to “dry” is really not evaporation, but absorption.
With a chip like China clay, I don’t think absorption is what is happening. The change you see is more scattering of light on the surface making it “appear” that the material has been changed by the oil, but I think all the oil is still sitting there. And no amount of “letting it dry” will reduce the oil.
 
Also you should wipe the inlay area only with a paper towel on both sides to get any oil off of that. That oil will not be absorbed so needs to be removed.
 
If you really don't like how they feel after doing it right, just wash them with soap and water and that should remove most, if not all, of the oil from the surface.
 
Realizing these are China clays… Just gotta say that with Paulsons, I no longer believe it is necessary to leave the chips out for extended periods of time after cleaning/oiling, let alone with fans on.

Been there, done that… Went nuts hand oiling and drying out my first solid set years ago.

But my results seem essentially identical with less than a half an hour of them sitting per side.

Note, however, that I now use the oil & water method, with very little mineral oil.

I pat the chips down on each side before airing them out.

And spot check them for individual rubdowns if they seem overly-saturated or spotty. But this is seldom necessary.

Afterward, I separate them into shuffle stacks and give them multiple shuffles on a towel. I feel this helps ensure a certain amount of uniformity, and also further removes any excess.

My goal is not complete saturation, just to remove any dust or dryness. This process improves the color of Paulson clays without getting ridiculous.

As for China clays… I think you could just dump them in the sink with some lukewarm water, stir them around with a wooden spoon or your hands, then air dry them briefly and get probably the same results without making them slippery.
 
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OP you can see all sides presented and discussed ad nauseum in the thread I linked. Try different methods, decide what works best for you and your chips. I know which one works best, but figuring that out for yourself is part of the journey.
 
Taghkanic said:
Realizing these are China clays… Just gotta say that with Paulsons, I no longer believe it is necessary to leave the chips out for extended periods of time after cleaning/oiling, let alone with fans on.

Been there, done that… Went nuts hand oiling and drying out my first solid set years ago.

But my results seem essentially identical with less than a half an hour of them sitting per side.

Note, however, that I now use the oil & water method, with very little mineral oil.

I pat the chips down on each side before airing them out.

And spot check them for individual rubdowns if they seem overly-saturated or spotty. But this is seldom necessary.

Afterward, I separate them into shuffle stacks and give them multiple shuffles on a towel. I feel this helps ensure a certain amount of uniformity, and also further removes any excess.

My goal is not complete saturation, just to remove any dust or dryness. This process improves the color of Paulson clays without getting ridiculous.

As for China clays… I think you could just dump them in the sink with some lukewarm water, stir them around with a wooden spoon or your hands, then air dry them briefly and get probably the same results without making them slippery.
Click to expand...
I’m cleaning and oiling for the first time currently, and I see no difference racking them up after 10 minutes sitting out.

Oil, wipe down, rack ‘em up seems fine to me.
 
suchj0sh said:
I’m cleaning and oiling for the first time currently, and I see no difference racking them up after 10 minutes sitting out.
Click to expand...

I think it really comes down to (1.) How much mineral oil is used, and (2.) How they are stored.

If someone totally saturates the chips with oil, immediately racks them up, and leaves them in a room heated to 79°? There is going to be an ugly mess.

Use the bare minimum, dry them on both sides with towels, spot check them, let them sit 20 minutes on both sides, store in a 64° room? Not likely to be issues.
 

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