Cleaning folding knives with water?

B

baliflipper02

Joined
Aug 27, 2014
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338
I always try to avoid water when I'm carrying my knife, but I see a few people cleaning their knives with running water and a toothbrush. I'm not so worried about running it through water, I'm worried about drying the knife (rust and corrosion). So how do you recommend drying fully after cleaning without taking the knife apart. Thanks!
 
I just shake it dry or rather as dry as it will get. I don't worry much about it. I clean my knives often since I might use them for food anytime.
 
Try blowing the water out with your lungs lol it sounds funny but if you squeeze your lips together and make it like a compressed air shot, it works pretty good. Also perhaps a shoe lace preferably a flat one, would be especially effective if you have stand offs or a flow through design. There is also cans of compressed air.
 
Dish soap and water.Then rinse out with water, and simply dry with paper towel and by blowing into the pivot. Then I put some olive oil (yes for cooking) on a paper towel and give the entire knife a coating in oil, then wipe the oil off with a dry paper towel. There will still be a nice micro layer of oil in the pores of the blade, handles to give it a fresh clean look. :):thumbup:
 
Arcrobe said:
Dish soap and water.Then rinse out with water, and simply dry with paper towel and by blowing into the pivot. Then I put some olive oil (yes for cooking) on a paper towel and give the entire knife a coating in oil, then wipe the oil off with a dry paper towel. There will still be a nice micro layer of oil in the pores of the blade, handles to give it a fresh clean look. :):thumbup:
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But doesn't olive oil give the knife a weird oily feel? (best I can describe it)
 
I also use olive oil but mainly in carbon blades that need it. Stainless folders get a drop of oil on the washers and pivot. Water can still be trapped between liners and rust will start but will be minimal. If you want absolutely zero water after washing it, disassembly is a must. A little rust on the liners wont hurt anything though.

Personally I just buy knives I can disassemble. problem solved.
 
There are zero tolerance /Kershaw, Emerson allow disassembly. I mainly stick with zt. I'm generally a fixed blade guy so I don't have a lot of folders anymore, the ones I have are disassembly friendly.
 
shinyedges said:
There are zero tolerance /Kershaw, Emerson allow disassembly. I mainly stick with zt. I'm generally a fixed blade guy so I don't have a lot of folders anymore, the ones I have are disassembly friendly.
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I just emailed Spyderco asking if disassembly voided the warranty. I don't expect a response soon but when I get it, I will share. :)
 
Spyderco does not allow disassembly of their knives. But people here on blade forums have been taken care of after take their knives apart. Basically its not allowed so everything is at their discretion.
 
you can get a nice ultrasonic tank from Harbor Freight that will clean your knives (and guns, jewelry, etc) better than anything else I've found for less than $100. Look for a coupon and buy it on sale and it's less than $60.
 
I just use my small Air Compressor and poooofffff it is very dry and clean ~~ no Oil to be found & I don't use water.!**
 
If a knife is so dirty it needs to be deep cleaned I will take it apart and clean it.

In regards to spyderco's warranty, it explains that only damage during taking it apart is not covered. It does not say that taking apart your knife voids the warranty. What they don't want is to get a bag of damaged parts and be expected for them to put it back together. Read your warranties carefully people! Hearsay on the internet is no replacement for actually reading your warranty! And even better, know how to break down a knife and clean it. Sort of like sharpening a knife. If you use it enough, you are going to have to do it.
 
Hot water, soap and a hair dryer. Won't over heat, won't leave small amount of water to rust.

Hot water rinse, shake out water by putting it in a sock,dish towel, hand towel and spin/swing it.

Soak it with Wd-40 after wash and rinse.

Lots of good ways to clean a knife.
 
Have read their warranty and then called and spoke to Kristy or what ever her name is, I can confirm taking the knife apart voids the warranty. Their are also threads on bfc where tazkristy and sal confirm this.

This one isn't on bfc, but on spyderco's forum. Read the first post.

Here you go http://www.spyderco.com/forumII/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=44631&p=596868&hilit=voids+warranty#p596868
craytab said:
If a knife is so dirty it needs to be deep cleaned I will take it apart and clean it.

In regards to spyderco's warranty, it explains that only damage during taking it apart is not covered. It does not say that taking apart your knife voids the warranty. What they don't want is to get a bag of damaged parts and be expected for them to put it back together. Read your warranties carefully people! Hearsay on the internet is no replacement for actually reading your warranty! And even better, know how to break down a knife and clean it. Sort of like sharpening a knife. If you use it enough, you are going to have to do it.
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Since I have retired I seem to get a lot of knives to clean and sharpen and always use the same system. First I wipe them down good with an unscented baby wipe then rinse them off with running water dry them off with a terry cloth towel. After this I put Flitz Metal polish on the blades and bolsters {if they are traditional knives} and buff them with a dremel tool using the small white buffing wheels. Sometimes this must be repeated several times if I'm removing patina or red rust on carbon steel. When I am happy with the results I put a razor edge on them then wash them good with Dawn dishwashing detergent and rinse real well with water. Dry them off with the terry cloth and then blow them out good wit a hair dryer on cool. The last step is to put a drop of 3in1 oil on the pivot and wipe the blades down with mineral oil making sure to remove all the excess oil. I have never had a problem with this method.
 
I use water to clean knives. I even swim with FRN griped folders like my Endura. When drying them I use paper towels to get in the areas difficult to reach. Pipe cleaners too. Whatever is needed. Getting grit out of the lock back design really helps with the aging process. When clean the bearing surfaces get smoother. If grit is trapped it gets abraded and that hurts the break in process. My 92 Enduras are smooth as glass now and don't really even need lube on the bearing surfaces. When re lubing after cleaning I typically use a dry teflon lube as it doesn't trap and hold grit like heavy oils and grease. Every one of my old Enduras is still in service with lots of lifetime left using very basic care. Just keeping things clean makes the largest difference IMO.

joe
 
Olive oil is a food product and can go rancid. Bad idea to use it on a knife you may use to cut ready to eat food. Mineral oil would be the way to go.
 
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