Often I want to deep-clean folders without taking the time/hassle for complete disassembly. I've been working out a better way to do that, including the recent thread about cleaning with water. After a little more experimenting, I came up with a water-less method I like, gets results, and is easy, so it's time to share it out. In no way would I claim this is the best method ever, I have no idea. It does work well for me, meets the requirements listed below, and I thought might be interesting to others.
My requirements for an approach to cleaning folders:
There are a lot of ways you could meet the above requirements. Here's one I came up with, using stuff I already have. It's a manual parts washing setup I've used for years for firearms. I was able to adapt this to cleaning folders.
Materials:
Steps:
My requirements for an approach to cleaning folders:
- Deep cleans the internals as thoroughly as possible without disassembly
- Doesn't require submerging in water (because I don't want to deal with the hassle of drying the knife, maybe getting rust in the internals, having to use toxic water displacement chemicals like WD40, and all that)
- Leaves the knife in a food-safe state (meaning: it cannot use toxic chemicals at all, and also at the end of the process, cannot leave any chemical residue from cleaners on the blade that could leach into food during food prep)
- Leaves the knife in a lubricated and corrosion-protected state
- Is simple and quick
- Uses tools and solutions I already have
There are a lot of ways you could meet the above requirements. Here's one I came up with, using stuff I already have. It's a manual parts washing setup I've used for years for firearms. I was able to adapt this to cleaning folders.
Materials:
- Compressed air
- A non-toxic, non-water based synthetic safe metal or gun cleaning solution that can stay in the internals and does not have to be washed off, which eliminates the need for water or for additional chemicals to remove the cleaner.
- Note 1: Unfortunately, there are not a lot of affordable and available products that meet this description. One is Mpro-7, it's excellent IMO, I get it by the gallon ($64 on our favorite online retailer that starts with an "A") and use it for individual gun cleaning, and in this manual parts washer. A gallon has lasted over 5 years and I've still got like a third of it left. I poured a little less than half a gallon into my parts washer, which is pictured below.
- Note 2: I would not recommend this submerged approach for folders with beautiful or expensive wood handles. Supposedly Mpro-7 doesn't harm wood and I've used it on rifles with wood stocks. But here we're talking about submerging, and if I had a highly valued folder with fancy wood handles, I wouldn't chance submerging it in Mpro-7. In this case, I'd probably either use compressed air and Mpro-7 on Qtips to get the internals as clean as you can, or just disassemble if needed.
- A large leak proof container, like a 2-gallon Rubbermaid. Stores the cleaner solution and soaks parts.
- Note: people will ask how you can keep this solution clean from gunk and getting into the parts you soak. First, use metal parts baskets, see next bullet item. Second, occasionally you can "strain" the solution by pouring it through a towel or something else to filter out the gunk, and you can keep reusing it this way for a long time. Listed on the Mpro-7 site in the FAQ section.
- Metal parts basket to contain small parts and keep the parts off the gunk that collects on the bottom of the parts washer.
- Long Q-tips, I use these for gun cleaning too and they are perfect for getting into a lot of tight places in folders, especially on back lock knives. I could probably add additional smaller brushes to get into even tighter places--pipe cleaners, maybe?
- Food safe mineral oil in a needle dropper. I use Norton honing oil, which is also a food safe mineral oil, so it can be used for 100% of all tasks related to knives. I can put it on sharpening stones, lube internals with it, and use it for corrosion protection on carbon steel blades, plus many other household uses.
Steps:
- Pre-clean: Remove visible gunk with a Qtip and blast out with compressed air.
- Soak: Submerge the knife in parts bath for 1 hour.
- Remove: Swish the knife around vigorously in the solution, then remove from parts bath. Wiped off the handles thoroughly. If needed, use another Qtip or a blast of air to remove remaining gunk from internals. Allow the knife to completely dry on a paper towel.
- Optional--protect (if you want added corrosion protection in the internals): Use a Qtip wetted with mineral oil to lightly coat the internals you can reach. I don't do this and never have a problem, my folders are stainless. Also, the Mpro-7 solution itself has a basic corrosion inhibitor, so although it's not intended as long-term corrosion protection, it will not do anything to accelerate rust on clean steel.
- Wash the blade: Thoroughly wash the blade with soapy water. Unlike toxic cleaners and petroleum-based corrosion inhibitors (like CorrosionX, for example), Mpro-7 does not "bond" to the blade metal, so it will wash right off. It's non-toxic, but you still don't want to ingest the residue, so definitely wash the blade.
- Lubricate: Use the needle dropper and add a drop of mineral oil to the pivot mechanism. If you want to corrosion-protect your blade, do that too. Again, I don't on folders because mine are all stainless. I only lube the pivot.
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