Wondering about the residual toxicity especially on shears etc. I find this oil is very good at keeping moving parts moving, rusty bits clean, so I dab it on the leading edges and joints, and wipe down prior to storage.
But could I be harming my plants?
"Leon Trollski" wrote in news:FLQBe.1959847$Xk.568440@pd7tw3no:
A nice alternative is oil of peppermint.
Even better is Camellia oil, look for a supplier of Japanese tools Hida tool comes to mind.
I have used it for years without any noticeable harm.
Considering that people intentionally spray their fruit trees with dormant oil -- a petroleum based product meant to kill off insects -- I doubt that a minute amount of WD-40 on a tool would be a great danger to the plants. One of the commonly suggested treatments for garden tools is to keep a bucket of coarse sand saturated in oil (often waste oil drained from a vehicle!) into which tools are plunged to clean and coat the metal and I've not heard of any problems with the method.
John McGaw wrote
"Considering that people intentionally spray their fruit trees with dormant oil -- a petroleum based product meant to kill off insects -- I
doubt that a minute amount of WD-40 on a tool would be a great danger to the plants. One of the commonly suggested treatments for garden tools is to keep a bucket of coarse sand saturated in oil (often waste oil drained from a vehicle!) into which tools are plunged to clean and coat
the metal and I've not heard of any problems with the method."
Why should it be harmful? Petroleum is organic. Some people seem to think that anything organic is magical, don't they?
[...] One of the commonly suggested treatments for garden tools
Yup, the stuff in belladonna is a magical people remover, all right... :-)
The oil/sand idea is a good one, but not used motor oil. Many mechanics now wear latex gloves around used oil because it's considered toxic and possibly carcinogenic. Since you'll be handling the tools, use mineral oil.
John McGaw wrote in news:icVBe.84304$ snipped-for-privacy@bignews3.bellsouth.net:
A healthy adult or plant will probably not show any indication of deleterious effects because most toxins will be either metabolized, excreted or stowed away in the liver or other body tissues (no, plants don't have livers except liverworts har har). However, when you are old or sick and your body metabolizes fat reserves that release the stored heavy metals and other assorted crap that comes with used oil, don't wonder why you don't feel so good. Maybe the quantity of contaminant isn't enough to make a difference or maybe it is. Of course some people, e.g. smokers, probably won't last that long anyway, so it probably won't matter at all for them.
You can look up the MSDS for WD-40 on
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