page_title: Mineral oil
section_title: Other uses
hierarchical_section_title: Mineral oil / Applications / Other uses
caption_attribution_description: English: A hand using mineral oil to preserve a butcher block. A generic bottle of mineral oil, with logo and branding obscured, is included as context.
context_page_description: Mineral oil is any of various colorless, odorless, light mixtures of higher alkanes from a mineral source, particularly a distillate of petroleum, as distinct from usually edible vegetable oils.
  The name mineral oil by itself is imprecise, having been used for many specific oils over the past few centuries. Other names, similarly imprecise, include white oil, paraffin oil, liquid paraffin, paraffinum liquidum, and liquid petroleum. Baby oil is a perfumed mineral oil.
  Most often, mineral oil is a liquid by-product of refining crude oil to make gasoline and other petroleum products. This type of mineral oil is a transparent, colorless oil, composed mainly of alkanes and cycloalkanes, related to petroleum jelly. It has a density of around 0.8–0.87 g/cm³.
context_section_description: Mineral oil's ubiquity has led to its use in some niche applications as well. It is used for treating and preserving wooden butcher block counter tops. It is recommended by the American Society for Reproductive Medicine for use as a fertility-preserving vaginal lubrication. However, it is known that oils degrade latex condoms.
  Mineral oil is commonly used to create a "wear" effect on new clay poker chips, which can otherwise be accomplished only through prolonged use. Either the chips are placed in mineral oil for a short time, or the oil is applied to each chip then rubbed off. This removes any chalky residue left over from manufacture, and also improve the look and "feel" of the chips.
  It is used as the principal fuel in some types of gel-type scented candles.
  It is used for cooling, for example liquid submersion cooling of components in some custom-built computers. Veterinarian-grade mineral oil is inexpensive, and is frequently used by amateur radio operators as coolant in RF dummy loads, as mineral oil is typically used as the insulating and cooling fluid in large electrical equipment such as transformers, see more above.
  Mineral oil is used as a brake fluid in some cars and bicycle disc brakes.
  Mineral oil is burned in specialized “machines” (both manufactured and home-made) to produce a thick white smoke that is then blown into automotive evaporative emissions (EVAP) systems to find leaks.
  It is used for polishing alabaster in stonework and lubricating and cleaning pocket knives or food handling tools that use an open bearing, thus needing periodic lubrication. Light mineral oil (paraffinum perliquidum) is used as a honing oil when sharpening edge tools (such as chisels) on abrasive oil stones. Mineral oil USP or light mineral oil can be used as an anti-rust agent for blades.
  It is an inexpensive alternative for storing reactive metals (lithium, sodium, etc.).
  Horticultural oil is often made of a combination of mineral oil and detergent. It is sprayed on plants to control scale, aphid, and other pest populations by suffocation.
  It is used to overlay polymerase chain reactions in biotechnology to prevent loss of water during heating cycles. It is often used to suspend crystals for use in X-ray crystallography.
  It is used as a transparent collision material for reactions in particle physics, as in the MiniBooNE neutrino oscillation experiment.
  As a relatively low heat combustible with no flavor or odor, mineral oil can be used in fire breathing and firedancing for entertainment, but there is a risk of injury.
  Paraffin oil is commonly used to fill Galileo thermometers.  Due to paraffin oil's freezing temp being lower than water (approx. 24 °F or −4 °C), this makes them less susceptible to freezing during shipment or when stored in a cold environment.
caption: Applying mineral oil to a butcher block counter top
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