doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DIY Gunsmithing @ doublegunshop.com Olive oil wood cleaner

A local collector has asked me to consider cleaning up a Springfield 45/70 he has recently bought. The least invasive cleaning method so far appears to be with EVOO, which I thought I might follow with damascus beeswax and EVOO polish. Any thoughts or ideas?

Regards
Ken

I'm not familiar with it's use. Can you comment a bit on what the advantages are supposed to be for using olive oil as a wood cleaner?

My thoughts might be that it can penetrate into the wood like regular oil based finishes might. Once it's there, is that a good thing, any unintended odors, residues or reactions.

Mostly, I'd wonder about the collector's expectations. Maybe, you've seen what some of his other guns look like. Good luck with it.

The traditional wood cleaner for oiled wax or wax over shellac finish is 50/50 Linseed Oil and Malt Vinegar shake well before using sparingly on a soft cloth. Yes! It sounds draconian but it works well.

The Springfield original finish was (I believe) straight linseed oil. This one is extremely dirty. Would the MV/LO be able to be used in this case? Followed by the LO/Bwax polish?

I got the EVOO recommendation from a Springfield site.

I found another recommendation for 1/3 Spirit added to the LO/MV mix.

Try Murphy's oil soap on an old stock, to try followed with BLO

Murphy's tends to raise the grain, and is a little too aggressive. If I was going to do a refinish I would use it.

You would be surprised what raw linseed oil applied with a 3m pad will do, recommended by our departed friend Michael.

I've used 10w detergent motor oil on greasy grimy stocks with excellent results. Apply and rub gently with a fine 3M pad. Wipe the gunk off with clean burlap. Obviously, do not let the oil soak in. Have not had any adverse effects whatsoever using the motor oil. The detergent does the trick.

I think just about anything with similar chemistry will dissolve into each other. So, I'd count on a lower viscosity oil breaking up grease/oil based crud. It's not the swiftest idea in the world, but I'll still use WD-40 once in a while for the first cut through car grease when washing up the hands.

I'd think hopefully any left over 'cleaner' wouldn't be a worry later, and I think it's better if the piece doesn't look like it's cleaned.

Interesting that while some are trying to figure out how to clean them up, I'm trying to figure out how to make stock refinishes and new recoil pads look old and grungy.

Sure wish I could go back in time and spend an hour or two with Hacker Martin, of Gray, TN. His m/l rifles and pistols looked 200 years old when he finished them, and are highly collectible today.

SRH