Grease for kitchen shears

[bmorecupcake]

I recently bought kitchen scissors where the two blades can be separated. I got these primarily so I can sharpen and reuse the same pair, otherwise I always had to throw them out every 6 months. When I opened the box, there was some sort of grease where the two blades connect. I thought maybe it was there for packaging purposes. I thoroughly washed my shears and rubbed the grease off. Today I clicked the two blades back together and I realize the grease was necessary. It's very hard to use the scissors and I feel like I can even ruin it. Does anyone know what type of grease this is and/or where I can buy it? In the future, should I avoid the grease when washing the shears, or should I always wash toroughly and reapply the grease. Thank you so much for any advice.

[Zeldog]

Vegetable oil will work, but food grade mineral oil is more inert. It's basically baby oil without the perfume. You should be able to find it at drug stores. IKEA also sells it in the kitchen dept (for coating wood cutting boards).

A dab of vaseline should do the job as well. It may not be food grade, but it will stay where you put it, and it's not like you're adding a spoonful of it to a sauce.

[bmorecupcake]

I bought from WalMart: "Mineral Oil, U.S.P. -- Lubricant Laxative". I can't find anywhere on the bottle where it reads "food grade". Would you know offhand if this will work?

[ferret]

If it's meant for ingestion as a laxative then it's suitable for your needs.

[Paulustrious]

Use any Kitchen oil. Vaseline will also work, but it does not penetrate well. For many of these scissors you can alter the 'tension' by loosing the nut slightly.