Question 1

Is this safe to use on a butcher block or other surfaces that are used to prepare food?

Accepted Answer

Boiled linseed oil contains formaldehyde. I bought the raw linseed oil which has a slower cure time, but it is food safe.

Question 2

Can it be used for outdoor veggie boxes?

Accepted Answer

This is the safest wood treatment I could find for garden use.  Linseed oil get its name from its botanical binomial Linum usitatissimum. In the real world, we call it flax seed oil; the same stuff we ingest in non-approved FDA supplements. I could not find out if "linseed oil" is called that instead of flax seed oil because it has been tainted with some additives to ready it for use with paints and varnishes; manufacturers will not specify. That is a possibility, but I think they call it linseed oil because it does not go through the stringent processes flax seed oil goes through to insure there are no pesticide residues or farm related chemicals onboard.  To be safer against additives, I chose to use the RAW linseed oil.  I figured it might have pesticide residue, but probably not additives.

It may not be perfect for consumption, but it is much better than the wood treatments you pay too much for in the exterior wood at the lumber yard. When using wood around the raised beds, keep in mind it is like decking. It has to be treated. every year or two. This can be done with a paint sprayer, and if it spills over into the soil, consider it part of the compost.

Two things I have to add. One: Make sure you apply linseed oil outside and store it in a cool place like a crawl space. It is highly combustible. I learned this as a kid when I used it to soften the leather in my baseball glove. This is an excellent leather softening agent, just rub it in and keep rubbing, then let it rest. Anyway, I threw the rag I was using into a clothes bin in the basement and in the middle of the night, the smoke woke the family. My dad ran down the stairs, grabbed the smoking bundle and ran it up and out the door. The minute the oxygen hit it, it exploded into flames. It is for this same reason it is not recommended for cooking.  The second thing is this: You can save a bunch of money on the wood for raised beds if you buy the same #2 untreated pinewood planks builders use for building backyard decks. It is plenty strong enough if you make your beds accessible, meaning no more than four feet wide so they can be worked from both sides. I have mine built in sixteen foot lengths and they hold well because I use a front and backside plate of the same wood at the seems. My reinforcement plates are about eight inches long, four inches to each side of the seam. These along with the main board makes the three layers of wood about 3 1/2 inches thick at the seam.  I put my beds together at the corners  using 5 1/2"  2 X 2s, as an inside corner brace.  If you leave  the corner braces about an inch and a half below the top level, and sticking out below the bottom, they are easy to stack two and three levels high. Hope this helps. By the way, all Wisdom comes from God. It is always there for us when we ask. That's how I figure this stuff out.

Question 3

Why does the can say it can cause cancer?   What is in it that can cause cancer?  Thank you.

Accepted Answer

Does linseed oil have any sort of odor/smell while wet or after drying? Also, I have heard that the flaxseed oil you can find in stores will not fully polymerize but turn rancid overtime. How is this different? Thank you!

Question 4

Will this change the color of my wood?

Accepted Answer

YES, NO & MAYBE !!!  There are many variables, such as the type of wood species, how the lumber was cut, any pre-treatment, indoor or outdoor, etc.
Mostly likely you will observe a slight change to a golden hue.  Try experimenting on something similar first.

Manufacturer	Sunnyside
Item model number	87332
Product Dimensions	6.07 x 11.66 x 18.9 cm; 0.28 g
ASIN	B0149KTEPS

Raw Linseed Oil

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