Finishing oil Finishing oil A finishing oil is a vegetable oil used for wood finishing. These finishes are a historical finish for wood, primarily as means of making it weather or moisture resistant. Finishing oils are easily applied, by wiping with a cloth. They are also simply made, by extraction from plant sources with relatively simple processing. Historically, both of these were considerable advantages over varnishes, that depended upon exotic imported plant resins, complex preparation and careful application with expensive brushes. The two most important finishing oils, to this day, are linseed oil and tung oil. Linseed oil is extracted from the
Jojoba oil and climate in which the plant is grown, as well as when it is harvested and how the oil is processed. In general it contains a high proportion of mono-unsaturated fatty acids, primarily 11-Eicosenoic acid (Gondoic acid). Being derived from a plant that is slow growing and difficult to cultivate, jojoba oil is mainly used for small-scale applications such as pharmaceutical and cosmetics. Overall, it is used as a replacement for whale oil and its derivatives, such as cetyl alcohol. The ban on importing whale oil to the U.S. in 1971 led to the discovery that jojoba oil is "in