Old engine oil as wood stain

[KMinAF]

Laugh or shake your head if you will, but it looks pretty good. I had just finished installing a new floor on my trailer and was too tired (cheap) to go buy some proper wood sealer. I saw the container of old engine oil and went hmmm I wonder if..... so I did. I don't think I would use it on fine furniture but it definitely worked for this project, the water just rolls off and the smell is like taking a bit of the garage with me where ever it goes.

 

[Bull]

Is that the "stained"picture? It looks pretty light.

I have heard about old-time farmers using a mixture including diesel fuel and possibly oil to preserve barn wood, so you're not crazy or anything.

I'm sure the EPA would freak out over the method, but whatever.

 

[carhunter]

Great idea! Bet it smells like an old machinery shed

 

[Buzzard217]

My Dad did the same thing.

 

[STINEY]

My uncle did that with his new house, board-n-batten siding. Looks awesome, his had more of a gray tint to it.

He says it was super easy to match when he did an addition too!

 

[sam_i02]

Great idea!
I was saving used engine oil to use as under spray on my truck this fall (winter salt protection) and you just gave me more ideas. Keep us posted on how it holds up.

 

[BD1]

I've been dumping used oil on my manure spreader floor forever. Coats the floor and chains ! After using it the floor looks like brand new wood. It kind of polishes it from all the $hit and straw that it moves. So if you have a $hitty
trailer, go for it !

 

[albaran]

Isn't there a flamability issue with this method?

 

[1320stang]

Isn't there a flamability issue with this method?

....in Oklahoma, wood is flammable.....

I'm going to be redoing the floor in my dad's trailer soon, I might do this. Maybe use some visqueen to make a trough and pour the oil in and soak the boards overnight. What do you think? I'll be using treated boards anyway.

 

[Hephaestus29]

I've heard of this before but what I heard was it's better to use an oil that doesn't have the additives in it. They may have been talking about new oil though & not used.

 

[wnstwolf]

Neighbor has a garden shed that was in place since 1968. He coated the non-Pressure treated 3/4" plywood floor with oil every season and when he built it he really coated the underside with what looked like axle grease?? Due to some roof damage and other issues we tore it down over the 4th weekend and when it came to the 6 sheets of flooring they were like new? I was amazed. like it was stated EPA may not like it but wow. realize the floor was mostly protected from the elements but the underside was just on a bunch of blocks and had 44 years of moisture hitting it.. very impressed

 

[Bruce Lancaster]

When I had no garage and had to work on my car in the backyard or driveway, I used big chunks of wood like 12X12 as my safety stands...and they would rot. I started oil soaking by just setting them into a dishpan with the oil from an oil change...after about 2 days in the oil, the wood would be resting on the bottom, then I'd flippitover and soak the other side. After all angles were covered, I let the chunk drain for a while and after that there was nothing out there that could rot it. Appearance and smell improve with time...

 

[ms fowler]

I know it works exceptionally well at staining whatever shirt I happen to be wearing. I just changed the oil in my '94 F250 7.3 IDI turbo diesel. The oil filter slipped out of my grip and turned upside down, draining its contents on me. The carbon that the oil picks up in a diesel engine NEVER comes out. I immediately used Shout pretreat on the spots, and they simply laughed at it.
Use diesel oil for that Jacobean look.

 

[rburke65]

I have maybe 300' of wooden fence that I have treated with used motor oil. I just replaced 90' of it and wanted to use up what I had. Took a 5gal. bucket and added a gal. of stain, 3gal. of motor oil, half a gallon of mineral spirits, and 3 half pint cans of stain that were not perfect for a job in years gone by. Mixed it up with a paddle in the Dewalt drill.....priceless! Didn't cost me a dime and I got rid of a lot of "stuff".

 

[LutzTD]

Isn't there a flamability issue with this method?

I would think so too, of course wood burns too, but it certainly does not ignite as easily as oil. Might be worth trying it on some scrap. I would hate a careless cigarette to burn down my trailer and contents

 

[concealer404]

I would think so too, of course wood burns too, but it certainly does not ignite as easily as oil. Might be worth trying it on some scrap. I would hate a careless cigarette to burn down my trailer and contents

Have you ever put a lit cigarette in some oil?

 

[Gary S]

Linseed oil is a far better oil to stain and protect wood than petroleum oil.

 

[torquepower85]

Have you ever put a lit cigarette in some oil?

Alls it does is saturate the cig and smother the flame.

 

[skeletonizer]

Used motor oil from a diesel pick up is what I used on the counter tops I made from construction grade 2"x8"s for my shop.

As for flammability I don't think it changed much over bare wood. I have a few burn marks on the edge from where I soldered some copper pipe joints together. Just scorched, it never supported a flame.

 

[James E]

Is that the "stained"picture? It looks pretty light.QUOTE]

If you want it darker, just drive the car longer between oil changes.

That's a cool idea. There is no shortage of waste oil in my garage and I can't use it as bar and chain oil fast enough. I have a trailer with a wood floor and just noticed the wood was showing its age. It'd look nice with a coat of "stain" on it.

I like the comments about the smell. Just don't use gear oil--gawd, I hate that smell.

 

[James E]

Is it slippery?

 

[skeletonizer]

Is it slippery?

My tops aren't nor do they smell. I wouldn't sit on them with white pants on, then again if any of you saw me in white pants I would expect to be shot on sight.

 

[Rust]

My old man swears by used motor oil for a number of uses. insect repelent, wood preservative, weed killer...the list goes on...
Dont get a sliver...lol

 

[El Barto]

Recently here in California, somewhere in farm country, a farmer built a bunch of small houses for the migrant workers. Instead of painting them, he used old motor oil.

From what I understand these were "decent" and better then what he had to legally provide but the state said that by using the oil he made them too flamable for habitation so they made him dismantle them.

 

[fergus]

My buddy told me the neighbor hired him to paint a huge barn with used motor oil the other day. I was wondering Bout that. I'll have to try it now!

 

[wantedabiggergarage]

Have you ever put a lit cigarette in some oil?

Define in? If submerged, there is no oxygen which is needed to burn. However on top, if you had some gas mixed in with the oil (lower combustion point access to oxygen), .....




This is an old timers trick I heard about for years. From weeds in the driveway or gravel, to buckets in the garage with sand that you put your shovels, and tow chains in. etc.

 

[JimVonBaden]

The idea that they are more flamable is foolish. They will not burn any easier. They will, however, burn longer and uglier than with no oil on them.

I wouldn't use oil on anything I lived in, but for fences and trailers, and the like, I wouldn't hesitate. My father used it on our work benches and wood exposed to the desert sun. It kept the dry rot down.

Jim

 

[JimVonBaden]

Define in? If submerged, there is no oxygen which is needed to burn. However on top, if you had some gas mixed in with the oil (lower combustion point access to oxygen), .....




This is an old timers trick I heard about for years. From weeds in the driveway or gravel, to buckets in the garage with sand that you put your shovels, and tow chains in. etc.

Toss a cig into some gas, or even spread some on the cround and toss it in. It won't ignite. There is a difference between red hot ash and a real flame. Check Mythbusters.

Jim

 

[Fitzgerald]

My grandfather soaked the bed of the trailer he built in a high school shop class in diesel. This was back in the late 1930's. We still use the trailer to this day and wood still looks good.

 

[egnorant]

Hmmm. In my cleaning I found a drum of used oil...and about 20 quart cans of old paint.
I wonder if I could mix them all together for my wooden fence.

Bruce

 

[Lotek]

Not trying to be a Debbie Downer here, but as someone who deals with used motor oil on a daily basis, who is starting to deal with the health results of a lifetime of contact with industrial chemicals, and who's wife is in the business of recycling and disposing of hazardous waste, aside from the legal aspects, considering what we know now about the toxicity of some of the contaminants in used oil, one might want to think twice. In fact any time you consider an oldtime downhome fix like grandpa used to do, you might want to think about it. <end sermon>

 

[skyking]

I've done it for years.It works great. It works to preserve my boat dock ,but I take care not to let it drip in the water.

 

[Lotek]

I've done it for years.It works great. It works to preserve my boat dock ,but I take care not to let it drip in the water.

Do you know what the fines for that are? Not to mention remediation, removal and disposal of the entire dock as hazardous waste? The Feds take the water supply seriously and have absolute power, you won't even get a reacharound.

 

[56rpm]

Linseed oil is a far better oil to stain and protect wood than petroleum oil.

And last time I checked it was much more expensive. How many people have more linseed oil lying around than used free motor oil.

 

[luvit]

yeah, $18gal if you're lucky

 

[HoosierBuddy]

I stained some of the T-11 siding inside my garage with used motor oil...Just not on purpose. The used oil bucket got away from me during an oil change!

Not oil exactly, but a county here in Indiana was using diesel fuel on a daily basis to clean out their asphalt sealing machine. Just a little spray through the nozzles at the end of the day to make sure they stayed good-and-clean for the next day. They did it in a parking lot at the county garage next to a small stream.

I think they are well over $100,000 now into the cleanup costs for digging out all of the dirt and stone and having it trucked to a hazardous landfill. If it would have been an individual, they would have gotten fined too, but since it was a county...they just have to foot the bill for the cleanup. They kind of got of easy, because the oil in the creek had dissipated before department of environmental management inspector (who I believe was tipped off my a disgruntled ex-employee) got there, so...they didn't have to put in booms to clean up the water in the stream.

Be careful out there!

Phil

 

[Erampu]

So, what's the recommendation for a darker stain? 10-40? 20-50? Keep it in the engine for an extra 10,000 miles?

 

[wantedabiggergarage]

Toss a cig into some gas, or even spread some on the cround and toss it in. It won't ignite. There is a difference between red hot ash and a real flame. Check Mythbusters.

Jim

That is my point, too many variables. Put something you just lit (still flaming a bit) in gas fumes and ****. Dip something in oil, etc where part of what is needed for a fire to happen and nothing.

 

[Lotek]

yeah, $18gal if you're lucky

Ok, compare that to the potential fine of $27500...









per day. You may want to rethink.

 

[luvit]

Ok, compare that to the potential fine of $27500...
per day. You may want to rethink.

but are you comparing this against all oil as a sealer on any wood?
or just the boat dock example..
.