White Oil (White Mineral Oil)
A mineral oil or paraffin oil is any of various colorless, odorless, light mixtures of higher alkanes from a mineral source, particularly a distillate of petroleum.[1]
The name mineral oil by itself is imprecise, having been used for many specific oils over the past few centuries. Other names, similarly imprecise, include white oil, liquid paraffin, paraffinum liquidum (Latin), and liquid petroleum. Baby oil is a perfumed mineral oil.
Most often, mineral oil is a liquid by-product of refining crude oil to make gasoline and other petroleum products. This type of mineral oil is a transparent, colorless oil composed mainly of alkanes[2] and cycloalkanes, related to petroleum jelly. It has a density of around 0.8 g/cm3.[3]
Mineral oil is a substance of relatively low value, and it is produced in very large quantities. Mineral oil is available in light and heavy grades, and can often be found in drug stores.
