Ok, I went through the barrel of them and wiped the excess off the label. I didn't wipe the chip. Going to flip after 12 hours. Thanks @Jeevansluck and @allforcharity
-
This site contains affiliate links. If you choose to make a purchase after clicking a link, Poker Chip Forum may receive a commission at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support!
Oiling Chips Done Right (3 Viewers)
- Thread starter Stibnite
- Start date
I think my Royal blurples came out pretty good. After an initial panic that there was oil on my labels, I wiped it off, and let the chips sit for 12 hours, flipped, another 12, then into the racks they went with a little edge rolling. I came across this comment:
So, ok, now that I'm doing the pinks, what's the wipe-on, wife-off method exactly? Is it more than just compression oiling the chip follow by a label-only wipe? Are you actually wiping the excess off the entire chip? I think I read that would dull the faces.
So, ok, now that I'm doing the pinks, what's the wipe-on, wife-off method exactly? Is it more than just compression oiling the chip follow by a label-only wipe? Are you actually wiping the excess off the entire chip? I think I read that would dull the faces.
Poker Zombie
Royal Flush
It's like waxing a car. Wipe on, wipe off. Sometimes I use a cloth to wipe the oil off, sometimes I use my bare hands. Mineral oil is a great moisturizer, so if you suffer from dry hands in the winter like I do, winter becomes an excellent time to oil chips.
It's not a of oil. Usually 2 wipes (rotating the chip 90 degrees fo the second wipe) through a dot of oil on a cloth, followed by 2 wipes on a clean part of the same cloth. I just slide the whole chip on the little hand-towel. Everything gets oil, everything gets wiped.
There is nothing uneven. 600 chips took between 1 and 2 hours, but I didn't do them all in one stretch. I used it as a chance to get away from my computer for a few minutes, stretch, and have my eyes focus on a non-monitor for a little bit. So I would do a barrel or two, then go back to the computer. Once I got down to the last 2 racks, I just banged them out, because the finish line was so close.
If I were to reconsider one step of the process, I might consider using a lint-free towel next time, because super close up photos show some stray strands of lint. At the same time, terrycloth has little loops that assure the mold indentations get oil, so maybe a little lint is fine. Maybe wipe off with a lint free towel, but that is just extra laundry.
I will live with the lint. It will fall off when the chips see play.
Thanks @BGinGA and @Poker Zombie. I was worried that quickly wiping the entire face of the chip would suck some of the oils back out. I definitely don't want them feeling oily going into the racks. The blurples were only a little oily on the labels, so I spun then in clean microfiber before edge oiling and racking.
I'm guessing you oil, wipe and rack immediately? No paper towel time for excess absorption?
I'm guessing you oil, wipe and rack immediately? No paper towel time for excess absorption?
I use a microfiber cloth to apply the oil, and regular paper towels to lay them out. No lint.
Screw a bunch of 'compression oiling' noise.
I either do the barrel edge method wiped down individually afterwards, or if full face oiling, I spread the chips out on a towel and hit 'em all with a shoe polish dauber, flip and repeat, and put another towel loosely on top. Wait a few hours, then wipe each chip down with a paper towel or lint-free rag before racking.
I either do the barrel edge method wiped down individually afterwards, or if full face oiling, I spread the chips out on a towel and hit 'em all with a shoe polish dauber, flip and repeat, and put another towel loosely on top. Wait a few hours, then wipe each chip down with a paper towel or lint-free rag before racking.
Poker Zombie
Royal Flush
I work a barrel at a time, so I oil wipe and stack. When the barrel is done, I rack them. There is no absorption time. Heck, I don't even have a paper towel within 50' of me.
Keep in mind the oil is trying to simulate years of handling, getting miniscule amounts of oil from your hands onto the chips. If you have so much oil you need to absorb it, you are using too much. The amount of oil on the chip below would oil an entire barrel.
When done, my chips dont "shine". The colors pop, but they don't look like a Matsui or the edge of a ceramic chip. China Clay should look like - or as close as possible to - a Paulson.
Paulson's dont shine.
Not entirely sure about that one. I once had an entire birdcage of blaze orange chips that would light up a small room.... looked like a damn fireplace.
CRAW
Two Pair
I was wondering about all this last night while oiling my first set of CC’s. So, I then took 20 chips and “compression oiled” them with a few drops of oil on a rag, and then thought to myself that I should refresh my memory on this technique and read this thread again. After reading I got worried when I saw the amount of oil used in the OP, and continued oiling another 20 with like five times as much oil as I previously used. Both sets stayed out on the kitchen table overnight on paper towels.
Both sets of chips looked the same this morning, but I’m anxious to check them this evening with my more-awake eyes.
Both sets of chips looked the same this morning, but I’m anxious to check them this evening with my more-awake eyes.
I used quite a bit of oil on my chips (although you'd never know it looking at the bottle), and the paper towels soak up almost all of whatever the chip doesn't.
After 5-6 days on paper towels with a flip in-between, I still wiped the center recess with a dry towel just so any residual oil wouldn't affect the label, and then left the chips alone for almost another week. I'm going to label a ton of chips tonight. The bounties and seating chips I did a couple nights ago had no issues with the label sticking to the chip.
There's such a difference in people's methods. Some let sit for weeks, while others are flipping and labeling in the same day. Some let the oil sit on the entire chip, some wipe it off, some just do edges. So ... many ... methods ... 
CRAW
Two Pair
I think what it *might* come down to (?) is how long the chip’s bright colors will stay. That’s what the OP was trying to accomplish in the beginning; make the popping colors last for years, and not months or days. Maybe letting them sit on paper towels accomplishes that. He sure was pleased with his results. I’m just too impatient. Unfortunately.
I think this is correct. I had a lot of time to be patient, so I let the chips sit for a week. Plus, I don't want to do it again down the line, which was also what the OP was trying to accomplish.
Many of those variations are dependent upon the specific type of chips being oiled, although the common denominators are a) less oil is better than more oil, b) avoid getting oil on inlays and/or labels, and c) leave no residual oil on finished chips before use.There's such a difference in people's methods. Some let sit for weeks, while others are flipping and labeling in the same day. Some let the oil sit on the entire chip, some wipe it off, some just do edges. So ... many ... methods ...
- Ceramics -- no oil
- Plastics -- no oil
- China clays -- minimal oil, more cosmetic than protective
- Paulson chips -- minimal oil, more protective than cosmetic
- TRK chips -- minimal oil, helps both causes
- TRK, ASM/CPC chips -- minimal oil, helps both causes, really enhances rolling edges
- BCC chips -- minimal oil, helps both causes, really enhances rolling edges, can lessen the effects of batch color variation and marbling effect often found on BCC chips
Thanks for this great breakdown!
Let me start out by saying I have nothing but love and respect for my Royals. But they don't pop - in fact, they just didn't look very nice when I got them; dull, pasty (kind of like me in high school). Playing with them has made them a little better, but not much. I think you're right in that it all depends on what I want to get out of it.
Let me start out by saying I have nothing but love and respect for my Royals. But they don't pop - in fact, they just didn't look very nice when I got them; dull, pasty (kind of like me in high school). Playing with them has made them a little better, but not much. I think you're right in that it all depends on what I want to get out of it.
- I don't want glistening chips
- I DO want a look that will last more than a few months
- I DO want the dullness to go away and have their colors be a little more saturated
Semi-oily rag is fine. A capful or teaspoon of oil is enough for an entire birdcage or two of 1000 chips. Probably three birdcages.
Long ago (at least 10 years or longer), I took a capful of oil and poured it into a large empty/clean margarine container full of small paper towel pieces. I would add a barrel of chips, close the lid, and gently rotate and tumble the container to coat the chips from the oil absorbed by the paper towel pieces, then remove the completely-coated chips and lay them out on a towel. Add another 20 chips, repeat, and flip the previous 20 chips already on the towel. I did an entire batch of 1000 brand new and recently washed Pharaohs china clay chips, drying off the first barrel (and all subsequent barrels) once the very last one had been oiled and laid out. I later used the same margarine container -- with the same paper towel pieces and no extra oil added -- for oiling 1000 used and cleaned PCA primary chips.
I've since altered my oiling techique, but last time I checked it, there's still enough resudual oil in that container to do another 1000 chips using the old method.
Moral of the story? A very little amount of mineral oil goes a very long way, and it doesn't evaporate. Ever.
CRAW
Two Pair
And China Clays can only absorb so much... Right? Or does the mineral oil only stay on the surface to bring out a bit of color? From what I'm seeing, they look just fine to me taking a quick bath, getting rubbed with a few drops of oil, set out to dry and then rubbed clean w/ a micro-fiber rag. I like the "clay-ish" look.
Correct. And not all china clays are made using the same material formula, so the absorption rates of different china clays can and do vary, including being different for different colors.
In fact, some formulas for the same color can even change from run to run, with the factory using whatever happens to be available, handy, or cheap(est) at the time. Using recycled materials with little to no quality control over contents or composition percentages is common.
How do you people not get blisters from this!? I've done 400 chips and have a couple nice ones on my pointer fingers. @BGinGA was right - I don't need to keep oiling my rag for every rack. Maybe an extra drop or two for every 100 chips.
I handled the chips after 24 hours and there was some slight oil on my fingers - nothing major. So maybe I just need to give each a little wipe with the cloth before play.
I handled the chips after 24 hours and there was some slight oil on my fingers - nothing major. So maybe I just need to give each a little wipe with the cloth before play.
Either you're using too rough a cloth, or you are pressing a little too hard. I use a disposable J-cloth, pinch the chip with the hand holding the cloth, and rotate the chip with my other hand to an 8- or 10-count, then on to the tablecloth / towel / paper towel it goes. 2 minutes per barrel on average, 3 tops. If you notice excess oil that's getting onto the inlays after, I use a fresh corner and wipe it off.
I'm average 6 minutes per barrel. I do 2 rotations of the chip, which is about 10x. I was squeezing rather hard so that 1) any excess CC crud comes off and 2) in order to try to press the oil in (compression)? I'm just using some microfiber cloths from Amazon. So maybe I'm creating too much friction on the compression. I just really want that oil in there!
That's so odd; I found that my Royal reds were able to take the existing oily rag with only a few extra drops added here and there between barrels. The pinks/blurples needed A LOT. And the greys barely any.
Poker Zombie
Royal Flush
I personally do not buy into the "compression" requirement. So instead of continually trying to describe the process, I went on a hunt to find some chips that I had not oiled. I had to go back to a time when it was widely believed that China clay could not be oiled. As luck would have it, I found a rack of CPS red birds.
I don't have a camera stand, so I will attempt to do this one-handed, while the other holds the camera. The result: The Blair Witch Chip Oiling Project.
When completed I picked up the chips and kinds rolled them around in my bare hands, spreading out any uneven oil. That took 2 hands, so no video. They were then stacked and racked.
Last edited:
That's an interesting technique. You've used it on other chips before that have since seen many hours of play, right? How does this method hold up over time? I thought that since oil doesn't evaporate, you needed to work it into the chip's pores. Here, you're just applying it to the surface.
Seems like a common sense technique. If anything, I'd describe the notion that you can push oil into a chip's pores by squeezing with your fingers "interesting."
My blisters thank you all for the different approaches here. I've got some shorter racks of orange/blues that I can try this on.
Create an account or login to comment
You must be a member in order to leave a comment
Create account
Create an account and join our community. It's easy!
Log in
Already have an account? Log in here.
