Also the antifungus cream I'm using has synthetic sperm whale oil in it

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[–] 44 points 9 months ago (5 children)

Yeah, whale oil was the base for a large host of high quality oils. It just happens to be real good.

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  • [–] 16 points 9 months ago (1 child)

    What makes a particular oil so good?

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  • [–] 42 points 9 months ago*

    The main use was for lighting as it burns cleanly and brightly. This was eventually replaced by kerosene which performs even better and doesn't leave a fishy odor.

    It was also good for machine lubrication; and didn't really have any notable competitors until petroleum-derived lubricants were developed and manufactured en-mass.

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