PsychoFeather
Pair
as the title would suggest, I am wondering if I should oil my min paulson (HS cleveland and HS indiana custom cash set). Or what would you guys reccomend that I do with them before I put them into play?
Should I oil Mint Paulson chips? (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter PsychoFeather
- Start date
I recommend to oil them.
philhut
Flush
If they are a brand new set I would not oil them at all. This would be like painting the house for a new buyer (they may not like it). Of course if you plan to keep your sets forever feel free to do whatever you wish, just consider preserving a value option if you have two sets and may consider selling one or both down the road. With play the chips will break in no oil required. They are very nice brand new and will break in with use. You can rotate chips in over several games so all of your racks are used. Unless the goal is to make your chips "photo worthy" the task seems rather time consuming for little gain. Others would of course say different. Poorly oiled chips are grimey and will attract dirt and further grime or even smells. A add-on I made to a Pharoah set years ago of slightly used chips had been oiled and were in near perfect condition except for the chips were just sludgey and gunked on the edges. When washed with soap and water using some kind of brush they cleaned up matching the rest of the chips in the set well.
At some point you will likely have to clean your chips for "various" reasons, when you do the oiling will be removed. This is why I have never bothered. I would buy oiled chips but would add no extra value to them, in fact I would factor the time of cleaning them into what I would offer.
At some point you will likely have to clean your chips for "various" reasons, when you do the oiling will be removed. This is why I have never bothered. I would buy oiled chips but would add no extra value to them, in fact I would factor the time of cleaning them into what I would offer.
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JP1984
Flush
I'd give the rolling edges a wipe with a rag that you've used to oil other chips, but nothing more than that.
Ben8257
Royal Flush
Careful with the incumbent debate. Lots of opinions on this subject. But...
Clay poker chips have pores, tiny holes that create cavities for "natural oils" of peoples hands I. E. skin particles, food particles, unfortunately possibly human waste particles and so on... this is basically the composition of what we all call hooker juice.
The comment that this only happens in casinos is absolutely false. Obviously depends on how picky you are with your players about washing their hands and not eating at the table.
By using Mineral oil you essentially seal these pores, condition the chip ( want to run an engine with out oil? It will fail pretty quickly) applying oil is essentially lubricating the chip. Other wise the clay dries out and becomes brittle and can easily cause additional flea bites.
I don't think anyone would argue that it brings out the chips deep rich natural colors that fade as the clay dries out.
They are your chips, do as you please but other than the crap argument that it makes the chips more slippery. I trully have no idea why people wouldn't want to condition and protect their investment.
We hand was and oil every single chip in our collection other than plastics (40,000 + clay chips) and never once have I herd someone say "hey these chips are too slippery"
We wash and oil chips almost every single day for the last two years.
Minty but dry and un conditioned for almost 30 years
After
Guess I should get a side by side later on. But seriously 100% recommend oiling your chips.
Fellow Chipper Ben
Clay poker chips have pores, tiny holes that create cavities for "natural oils" of peoples hands I. E. skin particles, food particles, unfortunately possibly human waste particles and so on... this is basically the composition of what we all call hooker juice.
The comment that this only happens in casinos is absolutely false. Obviously depends on how picky you are with your players about washing their hands and not eating at the table.
By using Mineral oil you essentially seal these pores, condition the chip ( want to run an engine with out oil? It will fail pretty quickly) applying oil is essentially lubricating the chip. Other wise the clay dries out and becomes brittle and can easily cause additional flea bites.
I don't think anyone would argue that it brings out the chips deep rich natural colors that fade as the clay dries out.
They are your chips, do as you please but other than the crap argument that it makes the chips more slippery. I trully have no idea why people wouldn't want to condition and protect their investment.
We hand was and oil every single chip in our collection other than plastics (40,000 + clay chips) and never once have I herd someone say "hey these chips are too slippery"
We wash and oil chips almost every single day for the last two years.
Minty but dry and un conditioned for almost 30 years
After
Guess I should get a side by side later on. But seriously 100% recommend oiling your chips.
Fellow Chipper Ben
Ben8257
Royal Flush
BTW not only oiling but also we still hand wash every chip, even dead mint chips to get the factory dust off before oiling. Just dawn dish soap, warm water and a rag will do the job.
LeLe
4 of a Kind
There no right or wrong answer weather if oiling is needed or not
It basically down to your own preference
For me personally I like to oiled used chip as they look so dry after some serious cleaning, it will help to bring out the colour
It basically down to your own preference
For me personally I like to oiled used chip as they look so dry after some serious cleaning, it will help to bring out the colour
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JP1984
Flush
I am never disappointed by your posts
and those hundos are so nice!
Ben8257
Royal Flush
Did you wipe them down afterwards? Looks like a lot of oil laying on the rolling edge on those $100s? Looks like your rag might be a bit too saturated. Glossy plastic inlays you should be fine but old school textured inlays be careful. Oil can run underneath very easily.
We use a pretty saturated rag for Hot Stamp chips, but inlaid chips the rag is almost dry. A little bit of oil goes a long ways
LeLe
4 of a Kind
I cant find the right picture in this phone, I was trying out a different method, missing a step 3 4 pic
I only applied them on the edge and left it air dry before wipe it lightly after that
HaRDHouSeiNC
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If I like a rack of Binions THC and let it sit a month the oiled look is almost gone.
Id stick with the edge only for pics and very very light.
If you do use them they will pick up oil naturally too with the grime over time
Id stick with the edge only for pics and very very light.
If you do use them they will pick up oil naturally too with the grime over time
I love when a thread becomes before/after oiling pics.
My personal take is a mix of most of the previous posts. I do a full compression oiling after fully cleaning dirty chips, but a light edge-rolling oiling on mint chips with a quick wipe of the faces with the oil that seeps onto them from that. I haven't experienced any slippery feel from any oiling, but I also wipe-down with a microfiber as my last step. If your intention is to put them into play, you're simultaneously making them look better and protecting them.
Oiled mint:
Cleaned then oiled (lighting is also a little different obviously):
My personal take is a mix of most of the previous posts. I do a full compression oiling after fully cleaning dirty chips, but a light edge-rolling oiling on mint chips with a quick wipe of the faces with the oil that seeps onto them from that. I haven't experienced any slippery feel from any oiling, but I also wipe-down with a microfiber as my last step. If your intention is to put them into play, you're simultaneously making them look better and protecting them.
Oiled mint:
Cleaned then oiled (lighting is also a little different obviously):
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I do light oiling on most chips that arrive. I put a drop in my hands, warm it between them, and massage the barrels until they have good coverage. Air dry for two days, then wipe down.
Chips will tell you when they need oil. If they don't, it's really not a needed step.
Chips will tell you when they need oil. If they don't, it's really not a needed step.
OP
OP
PsychoFeather
Pair
Thank you for your thorough answer!
As I havent received the chips yet I am unsure how much of a wash or oil they need. All i know is that they are new uncirculated chips. Dont want to get my first paulsons and just ruin them haha
OP
OP
PsychoFeather
Pair
Unsure as I havent gotten them yet
Odds are, they won't. But you should be able to feel if they are chaulky or dry.
These are two points (at least) that are always ripe for discussion.
1) Oiling chips seals the pores and works like scotch guard, keeping them cleaner.
2) Oiled chips are less dry, thus less brittle, thus less prone to breakage and flea bites.
I won’t call these old wives tales because I don’t want to be disrespectful. And I think there’s probably some truth to them? But I always question how much truth.
For me, I hate oil and I hate the process of oiling, so I only oil chips when necessary (which for me means when they’re all dried-out looking.) Ive never had a problem with breakage and flea bites, but if somebody could convince me that there’s significant, practical truth to the scotchguard theory, I’d go ahead and oil my new Paulsons. Not that I have any at the moment. But never say never.
Seeking Alpha Social Club
4 of a Kind
IMHO, yes, especially mint, and if you have white chips. I made the mistake of not oiling a set one time and the color transfer, especially to my white chips, was significant. I find that oiling, using the water oil method, significantly cuts down on color transfer. Other than that, it seems to be a matter of preference.
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I've done it all with mint chips:
With that said, you gotta go very light; a little goes a long way. But in addition to the above benefits, oiling also will protect them from both color transfer and from human oils that contain impurities.
I also always play with mine; I don't care about being able to sell them back "mint" or "unused", so that's a non-concern for me.
- Nothing
- Oiling rolling edges
- Oiling the whole chip compress-style
- Ultrasonic cleaning to remove EVERYTHING and then full oiling
With that said, you gotta go very light; a little goes a long way. But in addition to the above benefits, oiling also will protect them from both color transfer and from human oils that contain impurities.
I also always play with mine; I don't care about being able to sell them back "mint" or "unused", so that's a non-concern for me.
Ben8257
Royal Flush
Well that was a solid thought out response that I absolutely respect!
So here is my next question... they claim that Mineral Oil does not evaporate... but if you oil dry chips and let them lay out for 48 hours, the color is bright but when you wipe them nothing comes off... if it doesn't evaporate then where does the oil go?? Also even oiled chips after sitting for a few months will go back to the dry Claukly state (yes to those that don't know, even if you oil your chips and don't like it, they will be chunky again soon)
But again if it doesn't evaporate and that is known to be 100% factual then again where is it going if not into the chip themselves?
BCCs for exaplmple are a very dense grainy Clay composition, you can oil new minty BCCs every day for a week straight, let them sit over night and the next day they will be totally dry. The rag you applied the oil with is still wet, why not the chips?
Serious question that I would love to hear an opinion on. Again for the record my opinion is that the oil is absorbed into to pores of the chip, there for internally lubricating them/ conditioning.
As far as this lubrication doing anything at all for the chips... shuffle an un oiled minty barrel of RHC chips that are not oiled in one spot for 15 minutes. There will be chip dust around where you are shuffling. Do the same thing with an oiled barrel and see the difference.
Maybe not major but definitely a difference. Those D' esprit chips were nine dry after 25 plus years not being in use. Drop one on a hard wood floor from 3ft (typical height of a poker table) ouch more than likely a flea bite where it hit. Wash, oil and dry that same chip and drop it from 3 ft. Willing to bet you not a single mark. Again we do this every single day. I haven't dropped 1 or 2 chips, it is easily in the hundreds, dog bumps the drying table, whatever, not saying we do it on purpose but it definitely happens.
Last Sunday morning after 14 hours of poker I was cleaning up and went to grab a case of minty RHC spotted tourney chips. Had no idea the case was slightly opened
Yup, to the floor they went. A hard time floor. In total I saw one tiny flea bite... if they were dry un conditioned chips... well, we might not of been as lucky. No not a full 3 ft drop and only a few fell a couple feet but they definitely didn't hit the floor lightly.
Again it is ok for us all to have different opinions here, I just personally highly suggest cleaning and oiling chips.
This is interesting. Do you think it was just the lubrication? Because ultimately color transfer with clay chips is just like writing with chalk - if they slip instead of scrape, they won't be writing on each other.
Or do you think the oil somehow seals the color in, or creates a protective barrier?
I'm not trying to prove anybody right or wrong, I'm just curious.
FWIW, I tried it, and if anything, the oil caused more color transfer in my unscientific experiment. https://www.pokerchipforum.com/threads/shuffling-color-transfer-experiment-not-oiled-vs-oiled.54907/
I agree that the oil gets absorbed by the chips - no doubt about that, in my mind. As to whether that absorbed oil repels stains or makes them less brittle or prevents color transfer, I dunno, I'm all ears. But here's another question - if the oil doesn't evaporate, and it gets absorbed by the chips, then 6 months later, when the chips are looking dry again, WHERE DID THAT OIL GO?
It's possible that the oil is drawn out by players hands, felt, racks ... anything really.
Seeking Alpha Social Club
4 of a Kind
I think it was mainly the minty dust combined with the unoiled white surface area. The water oil method certainly rids the chips of dust, but I can't positively assess the effectiveness of the oil. They were red $5s and white $1s and the white $1s looked like ass after a handful of uses. I can definitely see how you would still have color transfer (maybe even worse) without washing (i.e., just oiling). I would assume, but don't know for sure, that the oil would absorb the dust color and permeate the chip with that color.
When it comes to Paulsons, I have only oiled very old ones, slightly used, obviously asking for some oil.
CPCs are another story; they are actually an unfinished product without oiling.
Oiling is a fine art and its bottom line is moderation.
If in doubt don't do it, or do it very cautiously.
CPCs are another story; they are actually an unfinished product without oiling.
Oiling is a fine art and its bottom line is moderation.
If in doubt don't do it, or do it very cautiously.
I have changed my oppinion on this multiple times, coming from oiling makes the chip look better to now where i dont oil them anymore.
What about this argument though (sorry if it was already debated, iam getting lazy...) :
Oiled chips are getting dirty quicker than unoiled chips? Maybe the dirt is just more visible, but i had two racks of sams town 1s, and for the first game (yes really only one game) i just oiled one rack. The oiled rack was way more dirty. And harder to clean too..
Oils evaporate. Their volatility depends on the size of their carbon chains. Fewer = quicker evaporation, longer = slower, sometimes ridiculously slow.
Most of the time, mineral oils will move into whatever it is in contact with by capillary action much faster than it will dissociate into the air.
Most of the time, mineral oils will move into whatever it is in contact with by capillary action much faster than it will dissociate into the air.
Incomprehensible, but nice and to the point.
Incomprehensible, but nice and to the point.
Sorry. TL;DR version: oils evaporate
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