When to oil chips? (2 Viewers)

Okku

Full House
Joined
Jun 6, 2020
Messages
3,620
Reaction score
12,621
Location
Las Vegas
Hey guys,

Have a few questions about oiling chips. Not that I need to or would probably need to anytime soon considering I don't have too many chips and not even a set that I would be playing with. My questions are when do you guys say that chips would need to be oiled? Then what does oiling do to the chips?

You guys are awesome and I'd love to know some information for the future.

Thanks,
Oscar
 
It's a bit of a loaded question. Personally, I oil chips after I clean then with the ultrasonic. They tend to fade a little bit and the oil protects and restores them. Many people don't, but I also oil them when they are clean and minty. It causes the colors to pop, and again, protects them a bit.

Lots of people on PCF don't like oiling, and others love it. Here's a side-by-side after cleaning (left is faded, right is oiled).
 
It's a bit of a loaded question. Personally, I oil chips after I clean then with the ultrasonic. They tend to fade a little bit and the oil protects and restores them. Many people don't, but I also oil them when they are clean and minty. It causes the colors to pop, and again, protects them a bit.

Lots of people on PCF don't like oiling, and others love it. Here's a side-by-side after cleaning (left is faded, right is oiled).
Gotcha, I've seen a bunch of collector chips that look faded like that and have always wondered if there would be a way to bring back that shine. Awesome comparison. Thanks for the info.
 
It's a bit of a loaded question. Personally, I oil chips after I clean then with the ultrasonic. They tend to fade a little bit and the oil protects and restores them. Many people don't, but I also oil them when they are clean and minty. It causes the colors to pop, and again, protects them a bit.

Lots of people on PCF don't like oiling, and others love it. Here's a side-by-side after cleaning (left is faded, right is oiled).
Chips look great! For older minty chips I like to wash with a little soap and water and oil the edges at least.
 
@pacmartine great point; yes, sometimes (especially with hot stamps that are older) I might only oil the edges.

@Okku You need to also be careful. Some chips, like ceramics, can't be oiled. Older hot stamps might be too fragile for oiling b/c of the foil. But, yes, you can restore some of the faded color and make them a bit more consistent in color with oiling.
 
Reverse for me. Hot stamps I’ll oil the whole chip. Inlaid just the edge. Old chips are almost always begging for oil. New Paulsons are a shame to oil imo. All comes down to personal taste.
 
CPCs are an unfinished product IMO, without showering off the factory dust and then oiling them.
Old and cleaned Paulsons also ask for oil (not mint Paulsons though).
Cina clays need some oil too. They actually would need lots of oil if they could absorb that much (they cannot).
Ceramics I don't know, but I doubt they can absorb any; plastics are of course meaningless to oil.

Over-oiling can be an ugly mistake. Never use more than half a teaspoon of oil, as absolute maximum, on a clean shoe-shine sponge per 5 barrels (100 chips).
 
CPCs are an unfinished product IMO, without showering off the factory dust and then oiling them.
Old and cleaned Paulsons also ask for oil (not mint Paulsons though).
Cina clays need some oil too. They actually would need lots of oil if they could absorb that much (they cannot).
Ceramics I don't know, but I doubt they can absorb any; plastics are of course meaningless to oil.

Over-oiling can be an ugly mistake. Never use more than half a teaspoon of oil, as absolute maximum, on a clean shoe-shine sponge per 5 barrels (100 chips).
Ceramic/plastic will not absorb oil and it'll be an ugly mess. Many people hate oiling mint chips. I get it... But I still think it really makes an "A" into an "A+". But if they have dust, gotta give them a quick mild bath first.
 
I oil after cleaning clay chips, it brightens the color which can fade after they've been cleaned. Brand new clay chips can have a dusty/faded color look as well, in that case I take the rag I've been oiling cleaned chips with and rub the barrel without adding any additional oil to it to brighten them up as well. It doesn't take very much oil at all, too much causes a mess that's hard to clean off. Some chips will want more than others, and it will vary by color as well. For example, my BCC green chips soaked up twice as much as anything else I've done, but the radiant red from the same set took less than average.
 
CPCs are an unfinished product IMO, without showering off the factory dust and then oiling them.

I totally agree. I do not have any myself outside of samples, but one of my favorite things here pron-wise is seeing the before and after CPC barrels/racks next to each other after some oiling. It was awesome when the Chesterfields started rolling in and how much of a difference the oiling makes, especially with the custom ones.
 
Did a couple side by side pics of my CS $5s, which came with one rack oiled and one rack chalky mint. Obviously the oiled pop more, but I still cannot decide which condition I like them better in. Once they get into play that will likely change my mind. Ultimately, it comes down to your personal preference though with Paulsons.

IMG_5215.jpg
IMG_5216.jpg


IMG_5214.jpg

(1/3/5 are oiled)
 
I oil them lightly (using the oil/water method) when either: or

1) I have cleaned chips with faux TSP *and* they look dry and dull;

2) If they are minty and dusty *and* I plan to put them in play.

If they were minty and dusty but I didn’t intend to use them (very rare occurrence for me), I would leave them alone to preserve that mint condition.

Note that with the oil/water method (which absolutely does work, despite the skepticism some express) you barely need any oil. I’ve used a small capful of mineral oil in a salad spinner to do multiple racks — not spinning, just lifting the basket out of the water several times, and agitating with a wooden spoon in between lifts. It was plenty.
 
Last edited:
Did a couple side by side pics of my CS $5s, which came with one rack oiled and one rack chalky mint. Obviously the oiled pop more, but I still cannot decide which condition I like them better in. Once they get into play that will likely change my mind. Ultimately, it comes down to your personal preference though with Paulsons.

View attachment 546412 View attachment 546413

View attachment 546414
(1/3/5 are oiled)

I much prefer the richness of color in your oiled barrels.

P.S. to my previous post... Some also say that you should not oil because your chips will eventually achieve that oiled look over time from being used. I don’t agree with this because: (a) unless you’re hosting multiple games per week using one small set, it’s going to take forever to get that look, and in the meantime you’ll have uneven coloration; and (b) I’d much rather have the first layer of protection hitting the clay surface to be clean mineral oil... not someone’s Dorito- or cheeseburger-greased fingers.
 
I much prefer the richness of color in your oiled barrels.

If they were minty and dusty but I didn’t intend to use them (very rare occurrence for me), I would leave them alone to preserve that mint condition.

I totally agree with this sentiment, since I cannot pass up on the red getting that much more vibrant from a little oil once they get into play. Until then, they will stay chalky. Even with my group and any newcomers knowing food-covered/greasy hands won't be touching the chips, I will still do protective mineral oil over "natural" hand oils over time any day.
 
I bought 2 racks of TRK New China $1s.

They mostly looked like this...
IMG_20201002_185225.jpg


It took 3 days of sweat and elbow grease, to get EACH chip, to look like this..(same chip as above)
IMG-20201002-WA0015.jpeg


It's been about 10 days since I finished. The oil soaked in for sure. The edges needed multiple copious applications of oil. Only after the second application did the excess need to be wiped off. I know there is alot of talk about oiling and not oiling, especially TRK. I had no fear to lather these up. Wiped dry. Repeat. The results are astounding. I used considerably more oil on these chips than anything I have oiled previously. Despite the warnings about oiling hot stamps, I ignored them and wiped and cleaned the faces too. Even the stamp itself. I gradually applied more and more pressure and realized, the oil soaked rag ain't gonna do any damage to the stamp or the chip. Only make it beautiful!
IMG_20201004_123920.jpg
 
I may be in a minority here, but I don’t believe that clay chips are “absorbing” the oil. Paulson, CPC, TRK etc are basically plastic with a few other ingredients added...I would argue that the oil is getting deep into the crevasses on the surface of the chip (if you’ve followed some of my microscope posts) and those crevasses are frequent and quite craggy under magnification. What I think is happening is the application of oil is filling the nooks and crannies and actually scattering the light, making them appear brighter and deeper in color, not “soaking in” as would be the case with a piece of dry wood with an application of the same oil.
Just my limited amateur scientific opinion.
 
@Jeevansluck - the dirty ones actually look like they have unabsorbed oil on them. Is that just a color difference?
I took a shot of the chips before the buffing started...that first pic is of the chips with heavily oiled edges (first application). The oil you see transferred to the faces naturally.

What I did NOT do, was soak, or flood these chips in oil. Or water for that matter. I didnt use the traditional dawn soap method. I just buffed each chip from dirty to clean with a microfibre soaked in mineral oil. I use a another nice dry microfiber to clean and wipe dry. The chips never soaked oil for long. Only the edges. About half day of absorption. They really did absorb a fair amount of oil. Pretty neat!
 
I may be in a minority here, but I don’t believe that clay chips are “absorbing” the oil. Paulson, CPC, TRK etc are basically plastic with a few other ingredients added...I would argue that the oil is getting deep into the crevasses on the surface of the chip (if you’ve followed some of my microscope posts) and those crevasses are frequent and quite craggy under magnification. What I think is happening is the application of oil is filling the nooks and crannies and actually scattering the light, making them appear brighter and deeper in color, not “soaking in” as would be the case with a piece of dry wood with an application of the same oil.
Just my limited amateur scientific opinion.
Oil doesn't evaporate. Enough said
 
I bought 2 racks of TRK New China $1s.

They mostly looked like this...
View attachment 549722

It took 3 days of sweat and elbow grease, to get EACH chip, to look like this..(same chip as above)
View attachment 549724

It's been about 10 days since I finished. The oil soaked in for sure. The edges needed multiple copious applications of oil. Only after the second application did the excess need to be wiped off. I know there is alot of talk about oiling and not oiling, especially TRK. I had no fear to lather these up. Wiped dry. Repeat. The results are astounding. I used considerably more oil on these chips than anything I have oiled previously. Despite the warnings about oiling hot stamps, I ignored them and wiped and cleaned the faces too. Even the stamp itself. I gradually applied more and more pressure and realized, the oil soaked rag ain't gonna do any damage to the stamp or the chip. Only make it beautiful!View attachment 549725
wow those looks amazing!
 
I never ever ever ever oil fancy/spoke/sprocket/anthing but circle INLAYS on ANY chips. ESP older chips. The oil will soak behind The cuts and could make the label brown.

But to answer ur question I oil after I dry them from cleaning.
 
New to all this, but I was wondering if people's hands get all oily after playing with the oiled chips??
Not at all..

After my oiling, I let them air dry for a while. Then I wipe them all with a clean microfiber cloth. They maintain the shine and color, and they DON'T make our hands dirty. I've used my CPCs for many games, and there was no such transfer of oil. I did dry wipe them though.

I'd say if I just oil em, and dried em, they'd be a bit "icky" perhaps..
 

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.

Back
Top Bottom