100% Natural Food Grade Knife and Blade Maintenance Oil, 1.69oz by Citadel Black

Hello everyone! Hope this review helps you in your purchasing decision.I am a culinary art student and because of that I have an entire kit of knives I use daily. In addition to my work and school knives I also have a small collection of pocket knives.So naturally, to preserve the look and feel of my knives I chose to purchase a bottle of this Knife Oil. So Looking at the packaging, I have to admit, I quite like the minimalistic feel of it. It comes in a small black box, and only has 2 labels on the bottle, of which is 50ml by the way.The front just says the name of the brand, and that its knife oil. But it also says 100% Natural and food safe, which is what I need in a knife oil. The back of the bottle gives directions. Which is what I really needed because I’ve never used this before.So now, let’s talk about performance: So to star my cleaning, on the precautions side, I chose to use it on a few of my smaller knives in my collection. In doing so I could definitely see a difference. It held a bit shinier on the blade than it was before. I also used it on a blade that was painted black, of which that blade stayed cleaner. I am hoping as the blade is stored, it also doesn’t collect dust, and I think this will help.So for my culinary knife set. Again on the cautious side, I chose to start off by using the oil on the cheaper ones. I started with a knife I was given for free. A long paring knife. It looked better and hopefully will stay nicer longer. I then moved to my normal paring knife, and finally my chef knife. Of which I’ve included some images of.Hope my review helps anyone who is interested in getting a good knife oil.

Previously, I wrote a review on another cheaper kind of food-safe mineral oil which you can read by going onto my page. I just moved a few months back and thought I had lost my other mineral oil in all of the hubbub. I have since found the old one and continue to use it on my knives and tools, but, before I found it, I bought Citadel Black Knife Oil. I have to say right off that it is worth the price. Why? It does everything standard mineral oil does except that it leaves a thinner and longer-lasting coat. It actually even keeps out moisture if the tools you coat with it are left out in the morning dew for a few days. When you use a soft cloth to wipe off any excess oil, if you turn a knife or tool towards the light, you can actually see an extremely thin coat of quality oil all over the surface of the metal. I have since switched to using my other mineral oil on my knife handles as Citadel Black is apparently not supposed to be used on wood. From other reviews I have read, most people don't have trouble when they use it on wood, but there must be some reason they say not to use it for your knife scales.Lastly, since this oil spreads so thin, two drops will generally cover a large knife and it stays on the knife in a thin layer even after the knife is put into a leather sheath. As a last minute thought, I also like that the bottle Citadel Black comes in is made from thick glass. It is sturdy and I wouldn't bother worrying too much about breaking it. Also, the lid is a very functional glass dropper, so you don't have to worry about using too much oil or spilling it. I will definitely be buying this again as soon as this bottle runs out.

A premium oil in a premium bottle with eyedropper. The storage box is also a nice touch. I knocked off one star for the price. This is not a cheap oil. Other knife oils with some similar ingredients are cheaper. I am guessing the glass bottle, eye-dropper and solid card board storage box is part of the reason for the cost. If it were $9-$10 I would give it the fifth star (it would still not be cheap, but closer in price to other knife oils. The good thing about the eyedropper is the control over the amount of oil used, whereas there tends to be less control with plastic bottles resulting in more wastage.

Might be good oil, I don't know. Mine came today with about quarter of an inch of oil left in the jar. The dropper cap wasn't screwed on all the way. I hope I'm not expected to return an empty bottle to get my money back or get a full one as a replacement.Update: Citidel Black responded immediately, stating they'd look into the cause as well as made it right for me.The actual product is fantastic. I put what was left in the bottle on various blade steels and it leaves a nice, thin coat and is easy to wash off of my hands and metal scales. It also washes off nicely and didn't leave any evidence of itself in my jeans pocket from my oiled EDC.This is a five star product, I truly believe, when the dropper cap is working as intended. Also the packaging is beautifully done. I'm going to watch this space and when it seems this problem is worked out, I'm coming back for more.UPDATE TO THE UPDATE: I came back for more. Seems they've worked out the issue with spillage and must have cleared the warehouse of defective cap ones, or whatever the problem was.This may be my go-to blade steel protection from now on. I'm in the Midwest with a few D2 blades. I'll update the review in several weeks, after I've gone boating and bank fishing a bunch with my oiled D2 knives.Updated update: This is the real deal. Not a spot of corrosion on any of my less corrosion resistant blades, after a whole summer of fishing.

Good stuff !