Minwax 'Tung Oil' Finish is fake & poison

Tung Oil is a foodsafe finish made from tung tree nuts and a good alternative to varnish, except literally every part of that is untrue of the Minwax version, which contains no tung oil, does contain varnish, and has cobalt in it which can give you heavy metals poisoning. No indication of any part of that is anywhere on the bottle.

[lylebirkey]

Dude. Thank you for making this video. I was about to finish a cutting board with exactly this "tung oil". Cobalt is scary stuff and I can't belive miniwax gets away with this super misleading branding.

[johnrice]

Glad you're putting this out. I got real milk hundred percent tung oil and it works great. You're saving people lots of headaches. Thanks

[deanryder]

Looked and searched on the inter-goggle and just got nothing but more misleading unanswed questions ..You cleared things up and easy to understand .Thanks for your insight.Cheers!!

[tecumseh]

Correct me if I am wrong, but to me, Tung Oil finish means that it has the comparison finish to Tung Oil. It never states that it is Tung Oil, but has a comparable finish to Tung Oil. Right??

[crazykansan]

So very unhappy because I just discovered the same thing. Unfortunately after I started using it. I looked up how to use because I wasn't getting the result I expected. Well, you know the result. I wish I had taken more time to find the right thing. I should know better than to just go by the label name. The buffet I was applying it to doesn't come in contact with food directly, and I only applied it to the outside. The purpose in using it was to keep it safe and natural and avoid having to re finish - my buffet has walnut veneer, I don't want to sand it. Thankfully I noticed it wasn't working like I thought it should on the first coat, so hopefully I can grey pad it off. Last time I buy minwax anything! Your channel was the first to come up when I searched about it. New subscriber now.

[bejingmao]

I used this stuff for a Curly Maple Grade meditation bench top. It worked out great, looks fantastic, and no smell. Hard finish. Yeah, the grain really pops - beautiful! Of course, I did the application and drying outdoors, duh. I don't put food on it, I don't eat off it. I put my a** on it. My a** loves it.

[allansmith]

Pure tung oil is very thick so its normally cut 50/50 with turpentine upon use. So take that into account when comparing the price on pure tung oil vs fake.

[bullrunfan]

Dang. I bought the same thing. Fooled me. Beautiful finish but had no idea about the toxicity of this product. I’ll know for my next project. Thank you sir 😉

[tchevrier]

It does contain some tung oil, but you are correct that it is not pure tung oil. Pure tung oil would say 100% pure tung oil.

[finnmacdiarmid]

Just stretch your protect a few more days, this stuff does best when periodically hit with a heat gun and left alone to dry in some place with low humidity. One coat for every 2-3 days tops, any faster and the steady but sure fire polymerization process corrupts itself and you’re left with a sticky mess. If that’s the case, just douse in mineral spirits and start over. Sanding in between coats is a must, even applying the finish with 1500-3000 grit helps tremendously.

[davidgreene]

True tung oil is a safe finish for cutting boards etc., UNTIL the board is used by someone with a nut allergy. When you sell your boards, do you ask the client about allergies? And it takes forever to cure.

[Chompadour]

Drats! I picked up the same stuff today and was looking for more info on it. Will be returning it tomorrow for hopefully something better. I appreciate the warning!

[scott]

Thank you. I did finish a cutting board with this. Then before watching this I started to double check, and I now get to toss it in the trash. These companies are the absolute worst. Jesus.

[bryanhall]

Can you apply real tung oil over this?

[RoughRidersTV]

dang, apparently 6 hours too late. Just put 1 coat on a project. Can't change it now but switching to something different for a top coat. Minwax just got on my no buy list with this one.

[banannaboat]

I’m so sad. I just started and I didn’t realize this. Already did half the dresser drawers and airing out my apartment.

[pittrader]

Thank you for making this. I put this on a project I had been working on all summer and it ruined it. I wanted Tung oil.

[spikehofmann]

It's surprising there isn't a law against this. A reasonable person would think this is tung oil. So they're trying to pass off this oily substance as tung oil. I don't mind if they say "Maple flavoured syrup" but this is unacceptable

[captaincoyote]

I feel your pain, brother....I am getting ready to finish a restored --- and rescued from the curb --- hard maple Nichols and Stone Liberty chair. Choosing a natural hand rubbed finish has been a "mud slogging trip through a bullshit bog". But I'm getting close...I want some color as I was unable to get rid of dark pigment in the wood's pores...so I am leaning to all natural Tried & True products. Some people have reported problems with their products, but I believe that is a result of impatience more than anything. Anyway---nice video....and while I know it wasn't the purpose of your video your obvious frustration did provide me some humor this morning. Best of luck on all your future woodworking endeavors!

[mpart_woodlathe-stuff]

BTW, Linseed oil is not the same as Boiled Linseed Oil (BLO). BLO has been processed with drying agents (be very careful with them!) like Cobalt. Afterwards the driers are no longer a danger. BLO can be made by the old timey wimey way of boiling pure linseed oil though it's very hard, dangerous and complicated to do. Lookup the SDS for BLO - it will be eye opening😵!!!
Pure linseed oil takes forever to air dry.
I like Walnut oil as an oil finish; good smell & easy to use; easy to clean up - lick your fingers😁. Takes a week to air dry. Like any of the drying oils (BLO, Tung, Walnut, etc.) drying time can be shortened considerably by application of heat. This is why, and how friction polishing is so effective. (BTW these oils can cause spontaneous combustion if not carefully disposed of)
Re. Cobalt ... do Cobalt-Samarium magnets give you heavy metal poisoning ? -Mike