- keeping rust from metal parts
- polishing gunshafts
- lubricate delicate parts (sewing machine ...)
That curiously describes every petro oil. Well, other than the "polishing gunshafts." I'm not sure what a gunshaft is, lol.
- in the food industry (nontoxic)
If it's foodsafe, you can bet it's mineral oil in an aerosol can.
*I don't know that Ballistol is food-safe. MSDS says it is non-poisonous, which is not the same thing.
"Ballistol contains medicinal grade mineral oil, alkaline salts of oleic acid, several alcohols, Benzyl Acetate and an oil
from vegetal seeds. The mineral oil is unchlorinated and conforms to the specifications of US Pharmacopeia XX."
There's also isohexane as a thinner in the aerosol variant, 14% of the product. This is not something you want to intentionally ingest.
And other tests got different results. When it comes to this kind of stuff everybody has a favorite that they swear by.
I find it curious how many tests there are between these various products without some known quantity as a control. Comparing snake oil to snake oil, the winner is very unsurprisingly going to be snake oil. Ed's Red, I suppose is generic, but even ATF is... well what is ATF? Add something in there that is generic. Like mineral oil or, heck, cooking oil. Canola, peanut, sunflower. Take your pic.