BYXCO "Desert Whale" Liquid Wax

An incredible all-purpose lubricating fluid for knives, tools, sharpening stones, machinery, hardware, and more, this thin and easy-flowing liquid wax lubricating fluid will not oxidize or form a varnish, is non-petroleum, all-natural, food contact safe, and not only safe for skin contact, but is actually good for your skin! But what makes it able to do all of this? To answer that we need to tell the story... of whale oil. 

Just why was whale oil so valuable, to the point where it was worth the monumental effort to acquire it? The answer isn't just the white smokeless flame it gave when used in lamps--it was because it performed at high temperature and pressure in machinery, and it didn't oxidize like other natural oils of the day, meaning it did not polymerize and form a gummy varnish like virtually all natural oils do. This made it invaluable as a machine lubricant, and it was used as transmission fluid in automobiles up until the ban on commercial whaling in the 1970's, among countless other widespread industrial uses. The famed Pike Manufacturing Company, notable maker of both natural and synthetic sharpening stones, stated in their 1902 guide on oil stone selection that it was "perhaps the best for all stones".

The ban on whale hunting led to a mad scramble to find alternatives, and the solution was found in Simmondsia chinensis, a shrub native the Southwestern United States and Northern Mexico. Unlike all other known plants, the seeds of this shrub produced straight-chain hydrocarbons as "liquid wax esters" instead of triglyceride oils. This liquid wax is not only incredibly resistant to oxidation, rivaling the stability of mineral oil, but has no fishy odor, is over 98% pure liquid wax, and is not only almost chemically identical to whale oil, but is remarkably similar to natural human skin oils. In every performance metric, this fluid actually outperforms the oil it was intended to replace by a significant margin, and all derived from a sustainable vegetable source. 

Our specially refined, clay-filtered Simmondsia chinensis liquid wax is odorless, nearly colorless, and about the same viscosity as sewing machine oil. The lubricity is exceptional, and just a drop or two provides an immense reduction in friction on drawer slides, hinges, knife pivots, fine machine parts, and more, and can be used on oil stones or as a cutting fluid when drilling or using taps and dies. This 2oz squeeze bottle comes with both a traditional spout that you can pierce with whatever hole size you desire, and a luer-lock cap that accepts interchangeable dispensing tips. Included is a tapered 25ga spout tip, 1.5" long 25ga precision needle tip, a 15ga large diameter tip, and a stopper tip.