Hi all, Just reading some posts on cleaning, what youse call mineral spirits is that mineral turpintine like used in paint & is mineral oil as in linsead oil, bit behind here in OZ. Cheers Gary,
The mineral oil is available in the phamacy section of your local store. It is commonly used as a laxitive, but is also excellent for protecting and preserving the bone and stag handles on knives. You can rub it onto the handles, leave it there overnight and wipe off the excess the next day. It will soak into the pores a bit and help prevent the natural material from drying out and cracking, a farily common problem on both older bone and older stag handled knives. It also gives the handle a nice sheen.
I shall leave the mineral spirits part of the question for others to address.